Out of the hundreds of concerts I have attended in Seattle, not one of them has been at Neumos. Now I know why. Neumos has to be one of the most trashy dives in all of Seattle. All other venues I have caught shows at are leaps and bounds beyond Neumos. Both Showboxes are stellar, the Tractor Tavern, Crocodile, and even Chop Suey are more inviting venues. Not to mention the bartender served me a Pabst Blue Ribbon tallboy with some kind of dirt or rust on it. Disgusting!
Once I was able to get past the shortcomings of the venue, the show was fantastic. The surprisingly large audience for an ordinary Sunday was blown away by some experimental rock and roll, Austin, TX style. The show, headlined by White Denim and opened by Brazos kicked off shortly before 9:30pm.
The intro for Brazos was a little annoying. Lead singer and guitarist Martin Crane started everything by playing the same three note progression on the guitar over and over for four minutes. I know it was the intro, building up to the explosive full band entrance, but it just went on way too long. The rest of their set was amazing. Crane possesses a perfect indie rock voice and hits notes perfectly. The guitar wasn’t anything too intense. Paul Price was solid on bass. The band member that really impressed me was drummer Andy Beaudoin. He threw down crazy beats almost effortlessly. At one point, he was using mallets. Mid song he flipped them around to use the drumstick handles for the rest of the song. Very talented band. I feel sorry for them because, in their first visit to Seattle, they happened to be an opening band on Sunday night. Translation: I think only 15 people or so were in the audience watching.
I don’t know who chose the music for the intermission between bands but they had some Morrissey, Roy Orbison, and Meatloaf blaring. Very cool.
By the time White Denim took the stage, the crowd had swelled to over one hundred. White Denim completely floored the audience, so much so that many were left breathless after their set. Lead vocalist James Petralli, bassist Steve Terebecki and drummer Joshua Block threw themselves 110% into their set. Petralli employed the use of an extensively large pedal board, Terebecki laid down the high energy bassline with relative ease, and Block entertained the audience with solos, fills, and constant tempo changes. They deftly maneuvered back and forth between garage-punk, progressive rock, some jazz, a little funk, and crazy all-out arena rock. Creating a beautiful mess out of deconstructing traditional song structures and working with unusual time signatures, they pulled everything off flawlessly and with ease. Each offering sounded like an intense cross section of Frank Zappa, Mars Volta, and Pink–Floyd style extravagance and complexity. They mostly stuck to material from their critically lauded 2009 release, Fits.
The only criticism I have—and it's not very much of a criticism at all—is that White Denim’s music is so high intensity. They did a great job segueing from song to song and tying everything together. However, there were two stretches where they played for more than a half an hour straight without stopping. That intensity only a very dedicated fan could listen to more than a few times. The casual listener might sour after being asked by the band to endure this long stretch of intense music. But their drive is commendable and anyone even remotely interested in experimental rock and roll will love White Denim.
Both White Denim and Brazos are worth seeing. Hopefully next time they come back to Seattle they’ll play someplace more inviting like the Showbox or Crocodile.
