10.01.06 Pelican / Daughters / Ken mode

Two shows in a week for me. This has to be a record of some sorts. Granted I don't like seeing shows on weekdays or sundays, this one looked like it had an earlier start time and it was Pelican. I do like my post rock. The lamplighter is an interesting venue. Small intimate club, but a lot of bad sightlines and obstructions. 1/3 of the stage was covered with the PA. Kind of reminded me of i guess the brickyard.

Kenmode up first. Apparently they're from Winnipeg. Don't remember too much about them. Had a sort of Isis vibe to them. The guitarist was having trouble with his mic staying attatched to the mic stand. At one point he put it in his mouth and started singing sans hands or micstand. They played for about 30 minutes.





Next up was Daughters. I was told by buddies of mine, who saw them in CA, that Daughters were possibly the worst band they've ever seen. Antics such as spitting on the crowd, spraying water and pretty much dropping their draws. Well it wasn't as bad as they described it, but it really wasn't too much better either. It was still a trainwreck by all accounts. The singer actually had this shtick where he would climb all over the stacks and monitors (in an attempt not to touch the floor?), and in the process ends up jumping on top of some poor guy. Later into the set he would get into the faces of people in the front row. He actually spent most of their set in the crowd stumbling into people. All the while, he'd beg for someone to buy him a drink. He was only taking ginger-ale + whiskey however, because he flatly denied the beer offered to him by the guitarist. Not to be outdone by the guitarist in Kenmode, the singer also put the mic in his mouth before singing. But just before that he took in a mouthful of water. Interesting effect i guess.. Musically they were ... well hard to describe. Basically the locust with the singer trying to amuse himself during the set. Their bass ends up crapping out after about 3 songs. This led into a 3-4 minute wait. Crowd didn't seem to mind, but the singer seemed to be bored out of his skull.





After Daughters I had almost felt like I just wasted 2 hours and 15$. Having seen Pelican about two years ago when they toured with Big Business and Red Sparrows (RS stole the show), I really wasn't too excited. That and the fact that I recall them posting that a lot of the shows that they did before the mono/pelican tour they weren't playing that well. Tonights show was a lot different. They were ten times better than when I had seen them 2 years ago. This was helped by the fact that the new songs that they played (about 3-4?) were really good. They were much more animated and into the show than when I had seen them previously. They played a solid 60 minutes. One of the guitarists even broke out the violin bow. Their set made up for the previously lacklustre night. Plus they definitely redeemed themselves for 2 years ago. Solid turnout for the show I might add. Oh and big ups to Dana their soundguy.





15$/15$