slow-dog.concert

26 Feb 2000 - Figure Four , Columbus OH
Braille Drivers, Viva Caramel, Aloha

This review comes with a preface that this review is tainted by events that happened, and thus, will be not entirely accurate.

So I'm bored on a Saturday, and I check my favorite online concert listing sources to see what's going on that could be interesting. Well it turns out that Aloha is playing in Columbus. I was made aware of this band about a month or so ago. They play a sort of avant-jazzish post-rock, notable for the featuring of the Vibraphone on most songs. Now you have to admit that it's a pretty good gimmick to turn a gimmick instrument into the centerpiece. Anyway, I had listened once to most of their initial EP The Great Communicators, the Interpreters, and the Nonbelievers, and had downloaded the requisite mp3, so I was intrigued about the show. I still hadn't decided how I felt about the group, so the show held the possibility of both revelation and disappointed as i pointed my car on I-70 East towards Colubmus.

The first intriguing thing about this show was its location--a regular old house near OSU. Now, perhaps you go to houses regularly for shows (and apparently, from their webiste, Aloha does), but it was rather novel for me. They still collected a cover at the door, but nobody yelled when I filled up a cup of beer from the keg (Leinenkugel's I believe), so I assume that beverages were included in the $5 admission price. As a brief aside, I shall say that more regular bars should have shows where your admission price includes beer.

The downside of this all was the performing environment. One thing that houses don't account for is acoustics. As such, this one tended to drown out any and all vocals, so you really couldn't hear what was being said.

First up were Morgantown, West Virginia's Braille Drivers. They turned in the most entertaining performance evening, buoyed mostly by this really big drunkard who was not part of the band, but entertained us endlessly with his insightful commentary and well-placed "Woo-hoo"s before slipping off after the Braille Drivers's set to pass out.

The Braille Drivers perform straight-shooting pop music. They were highly entertaining, even if you factor out the big drunk. And, as a rarity for small shows like this, they played 2 encores.

Of course, I couldn't simply enjoy this fine set. About 10 minutes into it, I realized that the girl standing about 5 feet in front of me bore a striking resemblance to an ex-thing. And I don't mean just kind-of. From 225 degrees, this girl looked exactly like my old flame. Well, this took me aback. Even head-on, this girl had an eerie resemblance to my ex.

Frankly, I assume this to mean that I still have open issues with this ex of mine, but it really fucked with my universe this evening. Gestures, sounds, etc., were all compared to this ex of mine for similarity. Certainly, I didn't think that this girl was the same as the one whom I had slept with, loved, etc., but I couldn't help but equate the two. Thus, all the grudges I had to transfer were transferred, and all of the feeling I had were given to her. Did I like her or hate her? I'm not sure.

The point is, that I was unable from this point on, to clearly evaluate the performances.

Mext up were Cleveland's own, Viva Caramel . By this time, the large drunk man had disappeared, which was unfortunate for these guys. Viva Caramel plays very straightforward, unintersting emo-rock. Perhaps they weren't helped by the aforementioned poor acoustics related to vocals, but regardless, they didn't have much else to say that you haven't heard before. Again, I was distracted by the girl who looked like my ex, but she left halfway through the set, so I must think that she shared my opinions on this band.

Finally, the headliner was Polyvinyl's Aloha. Like I said, they really do rely on the vibraphone. Overall, it was kind of cool. In fact, anytime you get a chance to see anyone rock out on the vibraphone, you should. Still, I couldn't help but yawn, check to see what time it is, and see how my ex's doppelganger was doing. She was kind of into it, but generally looked bored, which is what I imagine I looked like

Clearly, the music that Aloha generates isn't about making the audience get up off the dance floor and shake their groove thing. They're about art and experimentation, and they come close to delivering a reasonable avant-rock set, but it does lag at moments. I was also turned off by their shoegazer predilection towards turning their back on the audience.

After everything though, I couldn't figure out where I stood on Aloha. Are they good experimental rock gone bad, or are the the next big thing? You'll have to decide.

My obsession with the doppelganger did generate some interesting info. In between sets, I accidently overheard her talking to a friend. Turns out, she's an assistant music director at OSU's the Underground.

Apparently, though, the Underground had been trying to get Jazz June to show up for their Springfest, and had failed, but Jazz June was working to find another band for them.

I am kind of relieved, since all I know of Louisville's Jazz June is what Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo had to say about them in his last review. It wasn't pretty, and I've sort-of learned to trust him, so I'm hoping that someone better will be headlining, much like last year's GbV.

So, check out Aloha for yourself, as clearly I was unable to do it for you.