The Picador
03/03/07
One of the best things about seeing a young band making their way across the country, playing for small pockets of people who have never heard of them, is watching how they address these uncomfortable situations. It gets even better when said bands manage to win over a crowd through their charm and through the quality of their performance.
The Broken West made their way through the Midwest over the weekend, scheduling opening slots with the intent of garnishing attention on their full-length debut for Merge, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On.
In yet another example of Iowa City fickleness, about four dozen attendees witnessed this Los Angeles quintet attempt to break through the fourth wall during their truncated set. Supporting Iowa City’s Death Ships, The Broken West lifted heavily from the power-pop long-player with the abandon of a band that seemed to honestly appreciate the patrons that managed to show up on this cold March evening.
After some obligatory Hawkeye pandering and after the inevitable equipment malfunction (bad cable), lead vocalist Ross Flournoy donned an acoustic and set out to capture the attention of those patiently waiting for the headliners in this four band show.
By the time the band started “You Can Build An Island,” the lurkers had shortened the distance between the band and the crowd.
Unfortunately, a pair of inebriated girls also shortened their distance to the stage, providing the band (and the crowd) with lessons of alcohol-fueled flirtations and inappropriate throwing of the devil horns.
I don’t know if their fuck me eyes got any of the fellas lucky, but the girl’s hand signals must have hit a switch that caused the band to kick it up a notch.
By the end of “Down In The Valley,” one of the lurkers barked “You guys rock!” and sounded just as sincere as the “Thanks, man!” the bass player acknowledged back to him.
After a quick review of the album, there was enough time to provide an unreleased encore, “Horse.” With more of a country-via-Laurel Canyon feel then the other songs performed, it proved to house a wonderfully memorable chorus (“Fuck you/And the horse you rode in on”) and was a perfect way to end the set.
The Broken West demonstrated to a small crowd in Iowa that they have the chops to make a lasting impression; now let’s see if the small crowd made enough of an impression for them to come back around under better conditions.
We’ll promise to keep the drunk girls away from the stage next time.
Setlist:
On The Bubble
So It Goes
You Can Build An Island
Shiftee
Slow
B.C.B. (?)
Down In The Valley
Brass Ring
encore:
Horse
photo courtesy of the band's website.
1 comment:
hooray for underground bands!
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