Timber Timbre and Do Make Say THink

I almost didn't make it to this show. At tiny postage stamp of a venue Casa del Popolo (still perhaps my favorite place to see shows, though only when the crowd and the show are well matched), the show sold out. Fortunately, someone got sick and passed his ticket off to me. So, I did make it. Woo. Timber Timbre is one of my favorite bands, sort of eerie and haunted but also sort of rockabilly or bluesy in style too. Not the most well known band, but one I think I stumbled on accidentally some time ago (3 years?) and have gladly followed since.

At any rate, the show was so crowded that I found myself miserably staring at a bunch of heads in the back of the room. I'm not at my healthiest these days, fighting off some kind of virus (no, not swine flu) and so my desire to stand in a crowd is about zero. I sat on a chair and tried to glimpse what I could of the show. It was pretty solid, by all accounts, and I was pleased. But, something is lost when the artists are entirely not within eyesight. Although live performance always sounds richer and more exciting than a recording, not being able to see the artist(s) play kind of makes me think -- shoulda stayed home. But this is indicative of one thing and one thing only -- timber timbre has gotten more popular. And that, if nothing else, should make me happy.

After the Timber Timbre show, I meandered off to catch do Make Say Think across the street at Sala Rossa. I had tickets to this show the next night (which I did go to, but only lasted through the first two incarnations of Do Make Say Think before my virus urged me home). So, I'm going to lump together two shows as one report. Do make Say Think is one of my psychedellic band favorites. Let's just say its been a great week for me with show after show of favorites coming through. I almost feel like its planned this way, someone is putting together line ups just for me. Anyways, pyschedellic fused with a smart serving of punk is the best way to describe it. I think dmst is one of the bands that I most often listen to on CD -- just letting their album roll as I go about my business.

Well, dmst also has a number of side projects, and two of them made appearances at this show. The Years made me think of Godspeed! You Black Emperor with its huge, lush, soundscapes that built from the simple to the grand. This was followed up byt he Happiness Project, which consisted of different people talking about happiness and then having their vocal recordings transformed into melodies. It was pretty cool stuff. And then, of course, the main course for the night, DMST goodness. Huzzah.