April 23, 2005
Live in SF: Straylight Run, Gratitude, and Minus The Bear
(Clockwise, from the top left: Gratitude, Straylight Run, and Minus The Bear)
Last Sunday, I went into San Francisco in order to see Straylight Run and Gratitude live at the Great American Music Hall. There were actually 5 acts on the bill. I was a little confused as to when it started, so I missed all of Spitalfield, and part of The Honorary Title.
I didn't have to wait too long for Gratitude to take the stage, and they didn't disappoint. I can still remember when I saw Far back at Peabody's Downunder in the Cleveland Flats so many years ago. Jonah really blew me away with the amount of raw energy that he was able to put into his performance. Well, it is a number of years later, but that doesn't appear to have slowed him down at all. Gratitude is definitely growing on me, especially after seeing that performance.
However, I was a bit surprised to see that Gratitude went on before Minus The Bear. I know that Gratitude is a relative newcomer, but I have never even heard of Minus The Bear before! So, I wasn't really expecting very much, but I was quite surprised by this band. As it turns out, they were pretty darn good, and deserved there place in the roster. In fact, I think that the crowd was the most enthusiastic for this band, of all of the bands that I saw. I liked their set so much, that I bought their CD "Highly Refined Pirates" after the show. I've listened to it twice now, and it is solid. Rock, with a bit of electronics thrown in.
Finally, Straylight Run took the stage, to cap a pretty long evening. The crowd had dwindled by this point, and what was left wasn't even all that enthusiastic. Which I guess sortof makes sense -- Straylight Run is a bid of an odd duck -- too many ballads to be rock, but not poppy enough to be pop. Nevertheless, those who left early missed out, because they played a solid set. Including some new songs -- well one old song, which is sometimes called "Costello" apparently, and two new ones (I think). I hope that this band makes it -- headlining this tour is good for them, but I don't know if they have that special "mainstreamy-ness" that it takes to achieve "critical mass".
I was able to bring my camera into the show, so I managed to take a few pictures and some videos as well. I'll try and post some of that stuff later, but for now, you can enjoy the banner that I made (ala Karen Cheng).
-Andy.