Menomena, Blitzen Trapper, and BOAT at UW

The other weekend I was lucky enough to get a ticket for the Menomena, Blitzen Trapper, and BOAT show at UW. I wanted to see all three bands, particularly Menomena and BOAT, so I was thrilled that a ticket cost a mere $6 -- with no ticket charges!

The venue, however, was a disaster. The show was in the basement of the HUB on a makeshift stage that barely raised the performers above the crowd. Believe it or not, this setup was even worse than the HUB Ballroom staging for the Hold Steady and Art Brut show.

At least the performances were good.

BOAT, a local band, started the show. I've wanted to see them for some time, having read about them at Three Imaginary Girls and heard a couple of their songs. They play sing-along indie pop with a charmingly lo-fi aesthetic, and they seem like friendly, normal guys on stage. I liked their set quite a bit, and because the concert ticket was so cheap and I could buy directly from those nice guys, I bought both of their albums. They were extremely thankful and earnest, which was refreshing. I love supporting local bands.

Blitzen Trapper played second. Their sound fits somewhere between scruffy alt-country and Pavement-style indie rock. They barely fit on the stage, and their diminutive lead singer was barely visible behind the bobbing heads in front of me. Their set opened with more of a polished sound than I expected based on their album, but eventually turned into more noise than song. Their set was the least interesting of the night for me, but that's what I expected.

Menomena were the headliners, and for good reason. Friend and Foe was one of the best albums of 2007. I've heard that they're pretty amazing live, that people finally "get" Menomena after seeing them. A big part of getting the band is seeing how only three guys play such dense and interesting music on such a variety of instruments. Unfortunately, I could see only Justin Harris and Brent Knopf. I couldn't see Danny Seim's percussion work at all, and I couldn't see Knopf switching between his many instruments. That detracted significantly from the show.

What I could see was how much emotion Harris and Knopf had on their faces while playing. Menomena's songs rely on a series of cathartic moments, and those moments are much more focused and intense live than they are on the album. When Harris pulled out his baritone sax, I could see and feel the anticipation of his great sax lines. They played most of Friend and Foe and a few other songs, which was exactly the right set list. As they closed out with "Evil Bee," I was more than happy with their performance.

But I couldn't say the same thing about the venue. I'd like to see both BOAT and Menomena in a better venue.

Up Next: I saw The Magnetic Fields at Town Hall just the other night. Write-up coming soon.