The Low Hello, Natural Monuments, El Boxeo, Wildcatting, Syscrusher at Mac’s Bar in Lansing 5/18/07
MAC’S BAR!!! DAMN THAT HORRIBLE GRAFITTI! Despite having to avoid potential seizures, Friday night was one of the best nights I’ve had at Mac’s in a long time. I was anxious to check out some new (to me) bands (The Low Hello, Wildcatting and Syscrusher), and see some of my favorite JHaJ veterans (El Boxeo and Natural Monuments).
The Low Hello started out the evening with some few tuning problems, but attained pitch perfection quickly to perform a fun and friendly, albeit slightly messy, show. The guys played off each other’s energy really well and seemed to be having a great time onstage. Which made me have a great time in the audience. I’m not completely sold on their sound yet, but I’m anxious to listen to their EP for a cleaner indication of this band’s sound.
Natural Monumets is hands down one of the best indie-pop bands in the current Michigan music scene. Alec Jensen’s awesome Dylan-esque voice, the intriguing lyrics, and catchy –yet incredibly original- songs… I love seeing this band perform. I can’t wait to see what they bring to ELFest, forcibly being transformed into an acoustic band for the evening.
Absent were the traditional umbrella dancers from El Boxeo’s set. However, Zach Norton donned a bear head for the evening, which made for a cute and fuzzy change to the normal El Box performance. I hadn’t seen El Box perform in several months, and they played just as impressively as I remembered. John Krohn jumped onstage adding vocals for “The Rope,” which was thrilling due to: A) the rareity to see this song live and B) it's one of my favorite songs from Livonia.
I was slightly disappointed in Wildcatting’s set. I mean, don’t get me wrong: the band played a very tight set, their sound was pretty great and the audience seemed to be into it. However, I’d heard from several people that Wildcatting usually provides (sorry for the lame vocab choice) pretty wild and unpredictable live performances. Maybe it was just an off night? I’ll check ‘em out again for sure.
Syscrusher ended the evening with an epic performance energy only attainable by John Krohn and Ryan Baldaras. The sound definitely held some resemblance to ex-MI band, The Casionauts, but was enjoyable none-the-less (or possibly because of it?).
This was a very well-booked and well-attended show. Hopefully we can count on some similarly good lineups at Mac’s in the near future
(ie:
)
The Low Hello
Web site
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
May 31 — Corktown Tavern in Detroit w/ Beaten By Yuri, Belflur and Deleted Scenes
June 1 — Jacoby’s in Detroit
Natural Monuments
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
June 2 —ELFest in East Lansing!
June 19 — The Elbow Room in Ypsi w/ Sayonara Tiger and The Cut Scene
July 22 — The Replay Entertainment Exchange in Lansing w/ The Word Play
July 24 — The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor
El Boxeo
Web site
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
August 3 — Saginaw County Fair w/ The Pop Project
Wildcatting
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
June 23 — Bohemian National Home in Detroit
June 30 — THe C.A.I.D in Detroit w/ the Oscillating Fan Club, Duende, Zoos Of Berlin, Ancourage, The Questions
xoxo!
annie moss
The Low Hello started out the evening with some few tuning problems, but attained pitch perfection quickly to perform a fun and friendly, albeit slightly messy, show. The guys played off each other’s energy really well and seemed to be having a great time onstage. Which made me have a great time in the audience. I’m not completely sold on their sound yet, but I’m anxious to listen to their EP for a cleaner indication of this band’s sound.
Natural Monumets is hands down one of the best indie-pop bands in the current Michigan music scene. Alec Jensen’s awesome Dylan-esque voice, the intriguing lyrics, and catchy –yet incredibly original- songs… I love seeing this band perform. I can’t wait to see what they bring to ELFest, forcibly being transformed into an acoustic band for the evening.
Absent were the traditional umbrella dancers from El Boxeo’s set. However, Zach Norton donned a bear head for the evening, which made for a cute and fuzzy change to the normal El Box performance. I hadn’t seen El Box perform in several months, and they played just as impressively as I remembered. John Krohn jumped onstage adding vocals for “The Rope,” which was thrilling due to: A) the rareity to see this song live and B) it's one of my favorite songs from Livonia.
I was slightly disappointed in Wildcatting’s set. I mean, don’t get me wrong: the band played a very tight set, their sound was pretty great and the audience seemed to be into it. However, I’d heard from several people that Wildcatting usually provides (sorry for the lame vocab choice) pretty wild and unpredictable live performances. Maybe it was just an off night? I’ll check ‘em out again for sure.
Syscrusher ended the evening with an epic performance energy only attainable by John Krohn and Ryan Baldaras. The sound definitely held some resemblance to ex-MI band, The Casionauts, but was enjoyable none-the-less (or possibly because of it?).
This was a very well-booked and well-attended show. Hopefully we can count on some similarly good lineups at Mac’s in the near future
(ie:
)The Low Hello
Web site
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
May 31 — Corktown Tavern in Detroit w/ Beaten By Yuri, Belflur and Deleted Scenes
June 1 — Jacoby’s in Detroit
Natural Monuments
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
June 2 —ELFest in East Lansing!
June 19 — The Elbow Room in Ypsi w/ Sayonara Tiger and The Cut Scene
July 22 — The Replay Entertainment Exchange in Lansing w/ The Word Play
July 24 — The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor
El Boxeo
Web site
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
August 3 — Saginaw County Fair w/ The Pop Project
Wildcatting
MySpace
Upcoming Michigan Shows:
June 23 — Bohemian National Home in Detroit
June 30 — THe C.A.I.D in Detroit w/ the Oscillating Fan Club, Duende, Zoos Of Berlin, Ancourage, The Questions
xoxo!
annie moss
posted by Just Haircuts and Jackets at 9:02 AM
3 Comments:
thanks for the pics and review! you oughta hear us when we're all tuned up and i'm not thrown off by the vocal stylings of john krohn :) nothing against krohn. i love you krohn!
Seriously, what is that paint behind the stage??? Looks like a Dead-head puked up his mental cocktail on teh walls.
It'll be interesting seeing GLMS/FR in front of that one...
Hey! I dig your blog. I'm Michigan-based as well. I'd like to add a link from my blog to yours, if that's ok with you. Nice pictures here!
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