Untouchable

Being a glutton for punishment a good rock show, I ventured down to the Black Cat on Friday night to take in a triple bill of The Dodos, The Big Sleep and Les Savy Fav. I actually wasn't in the mood to go out when the time came, but I went anyways, thinking that a good killer show might do me some good.

First up were current interweb darlings The Dodos. I am not ashamed to say I had all but convinced myself I would hate them before even getting to the show. All the lavish praise from SXSW will do that to me. But the band won me over by putting on a very intense set that had everyone in attendance pushing up against the stage so they could see the seated duo. The drummer only plays toms and uses the rim for his cymbal. He duct taped a tambourine to his shoe to act as a hi-hat. The guitarist totally shredded his acoustic guitar and used his array of pedals to create all sorts of loops that ran under the bands songs, which were made up of all sorts of weird time signatures. It was enthralling. Add me to the interweb cognoscenti that are singing this group's praises. They are the goods.

And as good as The Dodos were, The Big Sleep were better. I had listened to their latest CD, Sleep Forever, quite a bit in the last few weeks. It has this ...Trail of Dead meets Mogwai vibe that I really like. They used their own lighting system, powering up some spotlights you would hang in your garage to set a dark and sinister mood that was perfect for their propulsive, post-rock stylings. Their album has a few clunkers on it, but they wisely stuck to their guns during the live show, focusing on their more urgent, up-tempo, rocking numbers. Their set was for me, the best of the night. I can't wait to see them again.

[mp3] The Big Sleep | Bad Blood
[mp3] The Big Sleep | Pinkies (highly recommended)

I had never seen Les Savy Fav before Friday but their reputation preceded them. Front-man Tim Harrington might just be the funniest person in indie-rock. As for their live show, lets just say I was unprepared for the chaos that ensued. A good time indeed.

Full photo set after the jump.