Brightest Young Things

(sadly, rob, who was supposed to shoot this hotness of a show for us, was unable to make it due to circumstances beyond his power, so we made do. thank you for your understanding-ed)

Because I’ve been going through a phase for the last two weeks of being completely obsessed with Vetiver, and because my friends and I like to think we’re spontaneous, we took an impromptu fieldtrip to visit the location site for the Oscar winning film He’s Just Not that Into You (and, lets not forget, "Step Up 2: The Streets" -ED) and enjoy a little Vetiver in one of Baltimore’s hottest music venues. I think it’s important to mention that this was my fourth time to Baltimore in total and my first time at the Sonar. Previous to Wednesday night, my time in Baltimore was spent doing things that the tourists do; the Visual Arts Museum, the Aquarium, Little Italy, a lot of antique shops (I was dating a rather… eclectic guy at the time…) and the Inner Harbor. That said, I was probably overexcited to hang out among the locals (but not disappointed in the hospitality!).

Steve Strohmeier:

We didn’t get to see much of you (but what we saw we liked) and only heard your last song (and liked what we heard), but you seemed to have the crowd engaged and I think everyone can respect a talented solo act.

I can summarize your performance in a few words:

Hot
Flannel (I wanted to mingle with the locals, you wanted to look like one)*
Guitar
Shaggy hair
Good (in reference to his music) **
HOOOOOOOOOT

On a scale of 1-10, one being Mickey Rourke of today and ten being Jake Gyllenhaal morphed with John Hamm, Steve is a hands down 8.5 (that’s pretty fucking credible considering the standard for my ten doesn’t even exist – that I know of, Gyllenhamm are you out there?).

Hot photo:

Sian Alice Group:

There are two things in life that have recently made me realize that I am getting old. The first is the burden of black hand stamps from places like the Cat and the DC9 which can’t be removed even with rubbing alcohol AND nail polish remover. The second being how much my ears hurts at shows. A friend of mine (who is also a musician and goes to see an absurd amount of live music) recently suggested that I invest in some earplugs, and that my friends, is exactly what I did. Now aside from Saturday mornings at the Rod and Gun club throughout high school (true story) I haven’t ever worn ear plugs, so I wasn’t sure exactly how the music was supposed to sound so when Sian Alice Group started playing, I simply thought “Hmmmm, earplugs sort of make the music seem somewhat unrefined, like the bass needs to be adjusted or something.” Apparently, that is just how Sian Alice Group sounds. The lead singer voice is BEAUTIFUL, and she plays a mean triangle (at certain points the triangle was a little over the top, but the two douchebags in front of us LOVED it - fuck the cowbell, I think the only cure for what ailed them was more triangle) but her body movements were so distracting I had to look away from the stage. Think of the little girl climbing up the well in The Ring, now think of Jessica Simpson singing live (if you don’t know what I am talking about, put in your earplugs and watch this video), that is what it is like to watch the lead singer sing. It was so painful and awkward the only thing left to do was stare in the direction of the flannel-clad high school couple heavily making out.
Sian Alice Group was really sweet, but I wasn’t blown away by them, there were a number of talented musicians on stage (so many, that I can’t believe there was enough room to fit them all up there) but I (personally) think there is room for improvement in the realm of live performances.

Overall hotness (keeping in mind I had a really hard time looking at the stage), I’d saaaaay, a 6.03476, but that could be because it was so hot in the venue, there came a point when I had no more layers to take off, I was, after all, wearing flannel pants.

Hot, if slightly blurry, photo:

Vetiver:

As previously mentioned, I am so obsessed with Vetiver right now. You know how they sound on your computer or on your iPod? So great, right? Imagine that greatness multiplied by ten, that’s how they sound live! I don’t know how they do it either (in other news, band members of Vetiver are also magicians!), but it could be attributed to their mad hotness.

All of them, SO. HOT.

HOTNESS level… 9.39978. The guitarist (stage left, my right) who also played the harmonica (swoon!) had the eyes and nose of Matt Dillon, the mouth of one of my ex-boyfriends (a very good thing), the hair of James Marsden and what I imagine to be the body of Lee Pace in The Fall.

Vetiver is so amazing, was in such great harmony and everyone just loved them (even the douchebags in front of us).***

(Very) Hot Photo:

Beach House:

We decided that if Cole of Durkl clothing and Mick of The Dance Party were physically able (and mentally willing) to reproduce, the result would be the hot guitarist of Beach House, right down to his 80’s inspired jacket. I couldn’t see the drummer (because I was staring at the flannel-clad back of the tall, courteous, hot guy in front of me), but according to 40% of the car he was also HOT, 40% of the car opted not to comment and I made up the remaining 20%. The lead singer is incredibly talented and sounds exactly like their album. Initially, she seemed a little bit uptight and reluctant to let go, leaving most of the easygoing (and outgoing) stage presence to the guitarist, but after a few songs she seemed to lighten up and really get into the show (it’s probably worth mentioning that 40% of us found her stage presence incredibly intense).
Overall hotness? 8.8102? It took a while for them to really get into it as a whole, but I can’t help thinking this morning (as I listen to Gila and Used to Be on repeat), “I am so happy I got to see them live!”

Hot Photo:

Baltimore/Sonar:

Overall hotness? 9.4789, everyone was sooooo nice at the show; the patrons, the bartenders, the guy who gave me a wristband! You guys should win an award or something…

* As a side note, flannel is “in” in B.more, I’d say roughly 87.031% of the audience was dressed in some sort of flannel apparel

** I pulled out all the stops with the adjectives on this one

*** Dear Idiot in the J. Crew polo, What the hell was on your shirt? Skulls and crossbones? Squids? A cross between a crab and a Kafka beetle? I say crabs, mostly because I’d like to think you believe in truth in advertising as much as I do. Also, please don’t yell to Vetiver and ask them to play The Doors, they have a lot of their own amazing songs. If you want to hear The Doors, you should go see a cover band. That whole interaction made you seem like kind of a dumbass.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/14: LiveDC: Die Antwoord @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat