Location: North Star Bar
City: Philadelphia, Pa
Date: March 4th, 2010
Opening Act: (Don’t know the name)
[Opening Acts]
The last time I stepped foot in the North Star Bar was about a decade ago and I happened to meet John Mayer before he got huge. I was excited to return to the venue to see the excellent, yet under-rated band The 88. We walked into the stage area (which holds no more than 100 people) and saw the merchandise table. My friend Mark struck up a conversation with the girl running the table and she ended up hanging with us for most of the night (she was a good sales person because I ended up buying 2 CDs and a t-shirt for my wife). She let us know The 88 was going to be the third act of five hitting the stage and she didn’t know the first two.
I don’t know the names of the acts, and for their sake I am glad. The first band was an odd collection of college students. A mostly female band with a big burly lumberjack looking guy playing bass. No guitar or piano player, but they had a girl playing a xylophone (or something close to it). The lead singer had a voice similar to Corinne Bailey Rae – it was beautiful, but the songs were terrible avant-garde, self indulgent, and messy. I think the singer could really make something of herself if she ditched the noise and found a more mellow, melodic act to work with.
The second band was called “Bla” or “Bla Bla” or something like that. The act was comprised of a large greasy looking fellow in a cloth trench coat looking thing and a girl that played tambourine. She did some spoken word poetry while he played the keyboard. He then took the lead and sang a series of increasingly terrible songs. I had the distinct feeling that I wasn’t in on a larger joke because nobody could be that bad by accident. Kudos to them for having the balls to get on stage and do it, especially before an act that was actually talented. All I can say is good luck with whatever it is you think you are doing (besides wasting people’s time).
[The 88]
After enduring the two openers, The 88 quickly came on and melted my face off. The kid running the sound board had the band SUPER LOUD (my ears are still ringing). For the first few tunes, it was very hard to pick up any of the nuances of the music since it all mushed together. The sound engineer improved things a bit when the band played a slower tune.
The 88 focused on songs from what I am guessing to be their most popular album “Over and Over”. That suited me just fine since I knew those songs the best. My friend Mark kinda knows the band (this was the third time he had seen them in the last 8 days). He let me know the new material they were trying out. Tunes like “Nobody Cares” and “Hide Another Mistake” were the high-points for me, but the new material sounded great. Even though there was maybe 20-30 people in the bar, lead singer Keith Slettedahl worked his ass off, dancing around the stage and hitting his trademark high notes.
The set was short and sweet, as the band had to make time for the two other acts. Keyboardist Adam Merrin quickly struck up a conversation with Mark and I got a chance to talk to him and Keith. Adam politely listened while I told him my boring story about how I discovered the band through the TV show “How I Met Your Mother”, interestingly enough Adam mentioned that show star Josh Radnor was really a big fan and might have had something to do with their songs being used. Adam and Keith were very nice and gracious people and as we walked outside to get our cab, we saw Keith quietly getting back on the bus to (presumably) prepare for another show (they played 27 out of 30 days in the last month).
I enjoyed the concert and really respect The 88’s stage presence and work ethic. Check them out if you get the chance.
Here is a small clip from my crappy cell phone camera:
Here is video for a better idea of their sound:
[A Side Story]
The girl running the merchandise table had a very “Philadelphia” attitude and I immediately thought “she would be perfect for my friend Sean“. I have never tried to pull this move for him before, but a girl that I knew who I have been thinking about hooking him up with recently started dating someone, so I decided to not miss another chance. I casually mention him and then pulled up a picture on my phone, she then proceeds to tell me she preferred the company of women and I felt like a total scumbag. The girl could not have handled herself with more class but I felt like I knob. Serves me right for not minding my own business.
🙂