never go to a rock show without a kazoo!

Never.

Well, after last night's VERY disappointing Man Man show (disappointing fans, not disappointing band... Man Man still fucking rules) tonight was certainly a treat: a polite Bluebird Theater crowd and an incredible trifecta of bands that I absolutely love.

Portland's Stars Of Track And Field kicked the evening off with an energetic set. They sounded good, but the vocals were mixed waaaaaay too low. The Long Winters' bassist (Eric Corson I now know) joined them on their last song. SOTAF will be back in a couple of weeks supporting Joseph Arthur, but sadly it's the day after I leave for Cancun. At last count this Mexico trip has me missing the afore-mentioned show, Bright Eyes, Junior Boys, The Books, Cornelius and Regina Spektor. It damn well better be worth it... :)


Next up was The Broken West (from L.A. - needless to say the West Coast was nicely represented tonight in Denver). I was really excited to see them; I love their recent release I Can't Go On, I'll Go On. The singer mentioned being in Denver only once before and that due to the altitude's effect on him it wasn't a very good show. Those crazy Californians... Right away I remembered exactly when they were in town - it was February 13 at the Hi-Dive and I was torn between seeing them or Glen Phillips at The Soiled Dove. As I recall it was snowing and I was a wuss that night and I ended up going nowhere... :( At any rate, they sounded great and they're coming back to Denver in May. Awesome.

Lastly, from Seattle, was The Long Winters. They. Were. Awesome. Stage presence, witty banter, great songs, they had it all for sure. John Roderick (whose name I had to look up, yes) is fucking hilarious. Some of my favorite banter:

-"I see a lot of the indie rock salute tonight." (That would be arms folded across one's chest). "I'll have none of that; no hands in pockets, no Blackberry... the only way I'll allow Blackberries is if you're reviewing the show as it happens." (Unfortunately the indie rock salute and having my hands in my pockets are my two favorite live show positions... I just don't know what to do with my hands!)
-"This is what happens when you say "fuck work" too many times... you join a band, wear the same shirt for a week and live off of cheese doodles and mountain dew."
-"I'm breaking out the brown guitar. You know what it means when I break out the brown guitar..."
(fan): "Purple Rain!"
(John) - "Yes, we play Purple Rain. Not just the song, but the entire album."
-"This Rush interlude brought to you by the comic book store down the street. For all your Dungeons and Dragons needs... "
-"The Long Winters don't do encores because of an edict from Homeland Security. We don't like it, but we can't really talk about it..."
And of course:
-"Never go to a rock show without a kazoo!"

There was more. Way more. But this is what happens when I don't take notes: I can't remember shit. They did do a 3-song encore, even though The Long Winters don't do encores (fuck homeland security! lol) ... two lovely acoustic numbers and one full band. And here we have a vague, pathetic semblance of a setlist. No order at all, and not nearly complete - they played for a good 90 minutes - but this is what I can remember:

Carparts
Shapes
Cinnamon
Stupid
The Commander Thinks Aloud
(It's A) Departure
Seven
Hindsight
Honest
Ultimatum
Pushover
Teaspoon
Sky Is Open
Rich Wife
It'll Be A Breeze
Mimi

Great show, great band. According to John they're near the end of the tour and are heading back to Seattle to make a new records. Awwww, yeah!