Or, A Stoner Rocker Goes to An Indie Show.

Actually, I’ve been to several shows the last few weekends, so I thought I’d share some of the experiences. First, a couple weekends ago I went to see Ted Leo on Friday, and then went out to Palm Springs to catch some bands out there on Saturday night. Then last weekend, I went to see some doom/stoner bands. Of all the shows, the experience of seeing indie rocker Ted Leo was the most unusual for me.

Mostly, I only go to see stoner rock and doom metal bands play live. This is partially because it’s my favorite genre to see live, and partially because it’s cheap and the more popular indie/folkie acts usually cost more to see. I only recently discovered Ted Leo, thanks to people here at KB (you know who you are) and when Greg emailed to let me know he was playing some dates nearby me, I decided to go. Mainly because he was playing just down the road from me (didn’t have to trek into LA) and it was all ages. All ages = done earlier. Plus, I could take my 14 year old son (who ended up falling asleep at the show–he just can’t keep up with Mom).

The venue was pretty rad. It’s a dinner theater, so there are tables in a large semi-circle all around the place, with an open floor in the center. It’s a full restaurant, so you can order food while the band plays. I liked that I could sit near enough to the stage to take good pictures and see the band really well. The crowd sure was different than what I’m used to–mostly teenagers.

The first opening band was a dance band from Seattle called United State of Electronica, or U.S.E. When I first saw them come out, a keyboardist, two guitarists, a bass player, drummer, and two female singers, I thought, "Man this is going to suck." But from the first fist they pumped in the air with a shouted, "Hey! Hey!" I was hooked. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so pleasantly surprised (or totally blown away) by an opening band. It’s something that happened pretty often when I lived in Seattle, since opening acts are often local bands, and Seattle has a wealth of great music going on. But here in Cali you get a lot of crappy bands (and this is coming from someone who can usually find something good to say about any band). So I wasn’t surprised when they said they were from Seattle.

They sing really energetic, fun, positive dance music. One of the band members is quoted on their website as saying, "U.S.E. rocks a house party like it’s a stadium, and rocks a stadium like it’s a house party," and that’s just what it’s like. There were some in the crowd who were familiar with them, because they were out on the floor ready to dance immediately. The band had the whole place dancing after a song or two. There was one older woman there, probably in her 50’s, who was out front dancing right away–I assumed she was related to the band somehow, but it was fun to see her having such a blast. I picked up a cd and it’s now what I put on whenever I need to do housework. I love it. How can a song that says "I’ve got more love than anyone could ever handle, I got more happiness too" not be sunny and infectious? I’ve posted a song to the radio.blog, check it out.

Two girl singers.

A keyboardist (left) who sings, a guitarist who sings and does keyboards (right).

Another guitarist who sings and does keyboards.

Even a drummer who sings. (The bassist is the only one who doesn’t.)

The second opening band, the Joggers, I wasn’t very impressed with, but it would be hard for anyone to follow the energy and fun of U.S.E. They were your typical indie rock, I guess, and I’m sure I’d have enjoyed them more if I had been familiar with their music beforehand.

Ted Leo, though, was a blast. He gets compared to Elvis Costello a lot, I think, and with good reason. He writes songs with tons of words, sung really fast, but with hooks that if you listen to them enough will drill into your brain and not let you go. He’s been around for a long time. I wish I’d discovered him earlier, because he’s making noises now like he might retire. He’s really entertaining, as well. He’ll talk back to people that shout things from the audience. And I may be misremembering this, but I could swear he took a request from the crowd at one point. I love performers that’ll do that.

Ted Leo.

Was the hairball bassist mad at me?

Ted’s really cute when he dances.

I took a couple videoclips at the show. They’re all around 30 seconds. Enough to give you an idea of what a song is like, but still small enough in file size for a reasonable download. Right-click and choose "Save Target As" to download.

U.S.E. - "Open Your Eyes" (16MB)

U.S.E. - "It is On!" (14MB)

Ted Leo - "Me and Mia" (18MB)

Ted Leo - "Under the Hedge" (17MB)

Ted Leo - "Hearts of Oak" (17MB)

That was my foray into the indie world. Very fun.

The next night, though, was a different scene altogether. Up next: the desert rock scene of Palm Springs.

To be continued!