Photos by TIMOTHY FINN/The Star
Above: Mike Allmayer leads the Pedaljets through a too-short set Saturday night at the RecordBar.
This past Saturday night was like a lot of recent Saturday nights: Music fans had a big menu to choose from. I hung out at opposite ends of Westport, where two solid lineups were on tap, one at the RecordBar, which was celebrating the second night of the two-night anniversary party for "Sonic Spectrum"; and the Hurricane, where a band from Austin, Texas, was sandwiched between two good local bands.
The Pedaljets weren't the headliner at RecordBar, but they could have been. The place was packed by they time they started, and forget any notion that this was an old band trying to revive a few old tricks. I thought they sounded better than I ever remember, including a show in the winter of 1984 at what is now Liberty Hall. In the intervening years, the boys have apparently become better musicians and performers, especially Phil Wade, who has spent years on the road with the Wilders.
During their set, the 'jets showed off all their punk/old-rock/indie-rock resemblances and influences, mostly Husker Du and the Replacements. When Mike Allmayer sang in harmony with Matt Kesler and/or Rob Morrow, ("Place in the Race") they sounded like the early-'70s Stones. The crowd stomped and screamed for an encore, but none was coming. Either they'd played all they'd rehearsed or they were sticking to a tight schedule. I've heard the remade "Pedaljets" album; it's real good. Here's to more -- and longer -- live shows real soon.
OK Jones was the opener at the Hurricane. The band isn't what it used to be: a five-piece alt-country/roots-pop band. It's a trio now, and its leader, Richard Gintowt, is now the drummer/vocalist. The band has shed its old skin for more informal but refined compositions that let the guys in front of Gintowt -- guitarist Brian Adams and keyboardist Nate Holt -- show off their skills and chops. Some of the sounds (if not the songs) I heard Saturday reminded me of what I've heard from the new Wilco album: a rootsy-jam band vibe.
Above: Danny Fischer of the Afterparty. After the Pedaljets set at RecordBar, I came back to the Hurricane to catch the Afterparty, who have put out two of my favorite local albums ever ("The Afterparty" and "Under the Rainbow"). I hadn't seen their live show; but I'd been advised that sometimes things can get a little too ragged. Such was the case Saturday night. The slightly beleaguered soundman asked some of the guys on stage to turn a few knobs on their instruments and amps -- an adjustment that improved the sound --at least it was easier to hear Danny Fisher and the background vocals from the ladies in the band.
I'd invited someone at the Pedaljets show to come down and check out the Afterparty. In the middle of the second song, she said it sounded like someone was hitting some notes off-key and she wondered whether he was doing it on purpose. I said I didn't think so and assured her they sounded much more honed and organized on their CDs (she ended up buying one).
Above: The pretty lights at the Hurricane shone on the Afterparty.
About four songs into their set, the band founds its stride and started sounding more like they do on record: a freewheeling brood of cosmic/psychedelic country beatniks. Fisher's personae has its enigmatic gravitas, kind of like Ryan Adams' did early on in Whiskeytown. Right after the clock hit 2 a.m., I headed for home, convinced I had seen neither the best nor the last of the Afterparty.
| Timothy Finn, The Star
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