Last night April 26th myself and A-Bomb went to see Band Of Skulls with Silver Starling and Saint Motel play at The Starlite Room in downtown Edmonton.
The evening started with the four piece Los Angeles based band Saint Motel. Unfortunately we arrived a little late and only caught the last 4 songs of there set, but was very impressed with what we saw and heard. The band sound like a cross between Weezer and Vampire Weekend, they rocked big time, tight band, good lyrics and really cool visuals on the three screens playing behind the band. They obviously did some research on the city they were playing in, as they had cool old footage of the Edmonton Oilers playing the Flames, some goals, some scraps and old time hockey. They also had footage from the local CTV news, shots from the weather channel showing winter temperatures -30 and such, and footage of our cold winters, howling winds blowing snow, winter driving, just a really cool montage of local stuff.
After their set, I had the chance to talk to a few of the guys at the merch booth, all of them were super nice guys and more then happy to take the time to talk. Two of the guys are visual art students and the other guy I talked to is a photographer. So they had a pretty good idea of how to put together such cool footage. All and all a very good opening band. I will be watching for more music by them. I did manage to pick up their 6 song EP called "For Play" (5 dollars) which also includes all their videos. Best opening band I have seen since catching Blitzen Trapper a few years ago.
Next up was a band from Montreal called Silver Starling. We caught their first couple of songs and then left for a few beers next door at Hawkeyes. We weren't all that impressed with them. I found them to be a bit too artsy fartsy for me.
Headliners, Band Of Skulls from the UK were next. I have been listening to them for about 6 months now and was excited about getting to see them play live. And they didn't disappoint, they were awesome as well. They played for about an hour basically playing their whole debut album (Baby Darling Doll Face Honey) They sounded good with a great guitar player and a lady bass player who looked a lot like one of the Ramones. One part that bothered me through out the show was the couple of dufuses who felt they had to yell Coachella after every song. Ok, we get it, you saw Band Of Skulls a few weeks ago at the Coachella Fest, get over it, we don't care. Even the band themselves said " hey we aren't there, this is Edmonton" lol.
I would give this show an 8 out of 10, a good time was had.
I would also like to thank Sandra Seprounes for putting me on the guest list for this show after winning a contest through her blog, click here to checkout her excellent blog on the local music scene.
Oh ya, I also picked up a 10 inch limited edition Band Of Skulls picture disc single featuring "I Know What I Am" and "Blood" for 10 dollars (sweet deal).
Am glad to have been exposed to Saint Motel. These guys will be around for a while provided success doesn't swell egos too much. Good music, very approachable band members and great visuals (both at the show and on their video releases). Like Mot, I've been listening to Band of Skulls since their debut album was released. Although I liked their music seeing them live really made me appreciate the band in a different light. These guys flat out ROCKED!!!! Definately one of the better, high energy shows I've seen in some time. Thanks for taken me Mot, am glad we were able to catch these two acts. Oh....and as far as Vinyl was concered all I can say is "meh"
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