neptune's call

Some shows are easy to go to by one's self, and tonight I had a ticket to see The Duke Spirit for the first time since I heard one of their songs on college radio, snagged the CD at the public library and while my initial reaction wasn't one of instant smittenness, Neptune has grown on me, and in the ensuing years has gotten regular rotation on the show and occasional spots on mix CDs due to the hooky tunes with big Sonic Youthy noise, a chug reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age, and pre-Starship Grace Slick vocalizing.

I got there late and missed the first song but caught most of the good long set, which was mostly the toned-down newest record, the kind that one makes when one is trying to "mature" as an artist but ends up being not as immediate or interesting. Still, the songs sounded great live with extra crunchy guitars, a good sound mix and Leila's charisma and amazing vocals. I would have loved to hear "Dog Roses" or "Send a Little Love Token" but it was good enough that I really can't complain.

I wonder what the crowd would have been like if they were headlining and not opening for a rescheduled Battles, because it didn't seem like the crowd was terribly into it except a couple of adoring fanboys at the front and I ended up moving to the other side of the venue because the guys next to me were talking the whole time and making fun of them. Either I've got horrible taste or maybe the music was too accessible for the crowd. I'm not much for tuneish snobbery at this point.

I only watched about ten minutes of Battles' set because it was late and while the technical prowess is definitely there, my math rock days are kind of behind me at this point and I felt like I was more at an indie dance club party than a rock show, with the screens behind them with the disembodied vocals of Blonde Redhead's Kazu emoting on a video screen above the bouncing and bobbing kids. Interesting but it didn't move me, or I just wasn't in the mood.  I'm also not a big keyboard/perky music person, and I was getting sleepy, so I drove home in order to get a little bit of sleep before another day.