LIVE DC: Fever / Coats @ Velvet Lounge + After

March 5, 2008 by Svetlana  Send to a Friend

all photos: Dakota Fine (click for full set)

Velvet was packed. To the gils. With young folk who either knew the bands or knew someone who knew the bands or knew someone who had heard (some of) the bands. Word of mouth show, in all its glory. I missed Koko. Everyone however told me they were awesome. So, considering that I could not locate a site or a myspace for them (or for the other two bands for that matter) we’ll just have to believe them. Now, for the bands I saw (and loved)

Fever:

FEVER (who then got named FOOTBALL and are now back at FEVER again) has at this point played GoldLeaf/Hosiery a bunch of times, and Velvet a bunch of times.
I am personally of (the humble but all knowing) opinion that they could play a splashier venue any second now (not being able to find them on the internets and all the name switching may be a few teeny detriments).
But essentially this is the deal: 2 boys. One guitar. One drums. 2 vocal tracks.
A recipe like this could either be soooooo lo-fi it could be spare and boring as fuck but thankfully Justin and Alex decided to go the (rather ingenious) relatively sunny pop route which keeps your head bobbing along instead of yawning and counting drumbeats.
It is stripped down, but only if you are paying attention to it. Otherwise, close your eyes, and it is that tried and tested (and never dull) song formulas you’ve loved all your life, and will probably love some more. Plus some drum solos.
At the afterparty, I asked: “How do you do it?” and they said “Its not easy” and then ran off to dance.
Kudos for making it seem easy.

then it was time for the first ever show of

Coats
You know “Tigermilk”? That’s what it sounded like to me. Just like “Tigermilk” but circa 2008, and without Stuart Copeland’s lisp.
And considering that a song or two from Belle and Sebastian’s debut is ALWAYS on my ipod list of most played, this is a good/great thing in my book.

2 keyboards, one drummer, 2 vocal tracks (one softer, one rather booming, but pleasantly juxtaposed).
NO GUITAR.
Apparently “guitarless bands” are the “guitarful bands” of 00s.
Nothing wrong with that, if it works. And here it does. I of course, don’t know any of the names of the (I think) 6 songs played, cannot do any research on this band and am in general at a loss to do anything but say: next time a friend or a friend of a friend (or maybe even BYT) tells you to go see them, go see them.

and after the show there were: limos, hugs, afterparties at Jimmy Valentine’s and more

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