Archive for Friday, September 14, 2007
A mash-up of musical styles, people and beer
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Steamboat Springs — Playing two sets, especially when you only have one record's worth of original material, can be a stretch.
For Steamboat-born, Denver-based blues rock duo American Relay, that meant filling up their Saturday CD release show at Old Town Pub with covers (including "Helter Skelter") and as many stylistic influences as they could muster.
It was jumbled, it didn't make any sense for it to exist in a Colorado bar - American Relay channels heavily life-worn Delta bluesmen and anything-else-worn big city dance rock - and it caused confusion in the crowd.
Really, you shouldn't slam dance to the blues.
That said, American Relay was fun as hell, and I can't wait for them to come back.
Insert overly broad rant:
Some shows aren't supposed to be critically evaluated. And pretty much any rock show in a crowded bar falls into that category (especially if the bar's main business isn't to present music).
Once you've had that third or fourth beer sloshed on to your shirt, comments like "yeah, the drummer's really off," or "why don't they just cover The Black Lips and get it over with?" are just going to ruin it for everyone.
So, in a town where there isn't a dedicated music venue for shows like that, what's the point in getting critical about anything?
In a lot of cases, there isn't one.
You either want to dance to it, want to hear it again, or you don't. And that's about it.
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