Live DC: Pela / Fever / Red Racer @ RNR

May 21, 2008 by Randy  Send to a Friend

all photos: Rachel Eisley

Ah, Monday nights in Washington. What can you say? Its Monday night, the one night of the week where you say to yourself, “well, I have four more days of this left? Damn.” Regardless, Monday night’s show at the Rock and Roll Hotel featuring Red Racer, Fever, and Pela was worth staying up late for, even for a Monday night.

Red Racer

Red racer opened the night to a nearly empty house but played a solid set with well put together songs. The four piece band blended surf rock rhythms imbibed with quick pop licks to create a well-balanced sound. Red Racer was a great opener and a band to keep our eye on for future shows.

Fever

The three-pieced Fever put on a hell of a set. As one of my friends commented, “they were easy on the ears and the eyes,” which can never be a bad thing. Fever’s sound is young and original, purposely choppy and heavy on the Brit-rock feel but not overbearing. They took well-calculated musical risks that were rewarded with good crowd participation and a lot of folks nodding their heads along with them.

The consistent driving sound of songs like “Katie” and the intricate bass lines in songs like “Lysol” show just how much raw talent Fever brings to the table. Most of the their songs were three minute explosions of sound that hovered between pop and improvisation. Not to mention, the lead singer had a wonderful monochromatic pants jacket mix, some kind of beige that was tremendously prog-rock- good going man! I secretly (well not so secretly) want to be you… Fever is definitely a band you want to keep an eye on in the DC scene, they promise to continue to deliver solid future performances that will keep your attention.

Pela

Pela, the Brooklyn fistfight of a band, with forty-five stitches and war stories to prove it, played at the Rock and Roll Hotel last night to a full house. Bill McCarthy, lead singer of Pela said “don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t fun. We’re having so much fun tonight.” Last night’s show was especially important to McCarthy who, during a show in Chicago over two months ago, lost his footing and fell onto a stray pint glass- lacerating his hand and cutting his pinky finger down to the tendons. McCarthy’s fall kept the band from touring and drove McCarthy into what he said was “a dark place full of Vicodin.” Last night’s show was the first time Pela had played live since McCarthy’s injury and the first of a summer full of tour dates.

The boys started the night with the power ballad “waiting on the stairs” which ended with the words “come sit next to me, I am not your enemy” which McCarthy, with a big grin on his face, yelled enthusiastically into the microphone. After the song McCarthy shared with the crowd, “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here tonight. Tonight has special meaning to me.” McCarthy’s injury led the band back to New York City where they waited until Bill’s hand had sufficiently healed. During that off time the band did not sit around idling but wrote a number of new songs. Guitarist Nate “Natron” Martinez shared, “ we wrote some songs in the off time… it was actually a miniature production moment” when I asked him about a new album coming out of that period he said, “we’ll see.”

After the raucous and tightly played “Lost on the Lonesome” which drove the crowd into full-tilt dance mode McCarthy shared some of his story. “Look, I was in the hospital, I got forty five stitches in my hand… and I couldn’t stop thinking of this day where we pick up where we left off, we’re having so much fun doing this.” The song “Philadelphia” was replete with the words “the city of brotherly love…” and we could all relate with that, the crowd, some of who had missed Pela before at the Rock and Roll Hotel due to the tour’s stint of cancellations, felt the fraternal camaraderie of finally getting to see them- you would have thought that DC, for that moment, was transformed into the city of brotherly love.

Bottom line, last night’s show at the Rock and Roll Hotel was amazing. Pela played with so much energy and vitality that I can’t see how they are going to keep up this break-neck pace for the months and a half- but I am sure that they can. They are a band that wins you over with their non-stop high-energy stage presence, all the guys in the band dancing wildly with the music and McCarthy especially, and the audience is hooked. If last night was any indication of the things to come this summer- I can’t wait to see Pela again the next time they are in DC- barring any unforeseen tour stopping injuries.

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