Live DC: Fever

June 27, 2008 by Patrick  Send to a Friend

All Photos: Roxanne Turpen

Kalem Jones, The Strange Loop, Fever and the Interiors@ Dahlak

Situated at the bottom of 18^th Street, Dahlak is the sort of place where you may have popped in for a drink a few months ago, but you were so faded that you don’t recall being there. I think it’s safe to say that for many of us in the crowd, Tuesday night was a formal introduction to a little restaurant that specializes in Eritrean and Italian delights

First up was Kalem Jones, who treated us a solo acoustic set. The sound was surprisingly good, but I wondered what would happen when a full band was playing. Anyway, as Kalem ran through his set, some dingbat behind me commented that he looked like Adam Duritz from Counting Crows. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, he looked like Chris Robinson from the Black Crows.

The Strange Loop describe themselves as a mix between folk and indie rock. They weren’t too hyper and energetic, but they weren’t boring and whiney either. They definitely came through with some nice melodies, but I wish that they were a little bit louder. I could barely hear the keyboards or the background vocals. Regardless, I really enjoyed it when the bassist picked up a melodica and treated the audience to a little Augustus Pablo style noodling.

Fever used to be a three piece. Then they became a duo and changed their name to Football for like a month. Now they’re Fever again, and they’ve made the tremendous decision to become a four piece. Call me conservative, but there’s something very comforting about seeing a two guitars, bass and drums line-up on stage. Furthermore, the band’s songs sound a lot more dynamic and fully formed. At times, they reminded me of the Libertines. Not just because of their sense of fashion and slightly punk tinged pop, but because of the energetic relationship between the band and their audience.

The crowd had thinned out considerably by the time The Interiors took to the stage (Unfortunately for them, Fever owned the night). That being said, the Chicago based trio proceeded to play a rather paint-by-numbers indie rock set. This is not to say that I disliked them; I thought they were very talented musicians. But their music said very little to me and there was definitely a lack of showmanship. Sadly, this is what sometimes happens when you catch a band on the very last night of a tour. Perhaps they’ll be a bit more enjoyable next time around.

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