Concert Review: Those Darlins and Spook Lights at the Jackpot
When the headliner bails, it's a crap shoot as to whether or not the show cobbled together from the remnants will be worth a good goddamn or not. When your headliner is a duo as energetic, exciting, and entertaining as the Kentucky-detained King Khan & BBQ Show, any band trying to please the people expecting them is fighting an uphill battle.
Nick Spacek Those Darlins
Those Darlins would've been a fantastic opener. As a headliner, they leave a little bit to be desired. I'd not been particularly entertained by their self-titled debut, finding the blend of country and Vivian Girls lo-fi garage a better idea than actuality. On that album, I'd been able to enjoy about one song before getting bored and uninterested. Live, the band was able to hold my attention for about two songs -- three, if you count the solo number crooned by the gentleman sporting an evening gown and five o'clock shadow the rest of the band called "mom."
Part of the problem may have been the fact that Jessi Darlin has a voice that brings to mind someone like Kasey Chambers. That wouldn't be a bad idea if they were playing Kasey Chambers' style of music, keeping everything to a country bomm-chick rhythm. Those Darlins play country-tinged garage at a Ramones pace, however, and yelping that country twang takes the vocal delivery into the realm of Melt Banana annoyance after a little bit.
Now, I don't want that to take away from the fact that the band is an energetic presence on stage. For the crowd that said, "Fuck it. We're seein' a show tonight, I don't care who's playing," the band gave a performance. Bassist Kelley Darlin, clad in leotard and tutu, was bouncing around like a five year old on too much sugar, and the enthusiasm of the band is evident. While the Vivian Girls comparisons pretty much evaporate once the band takes the stage (Those Darlins move around, for one), the band is still lacking some definition in their songs. Everything's played in the same tempo, with one song bleeding into another, to the point where I probably couldn't tell you what songs they played with a lyric sheet and full video of the show.
Let's just put it this way: if you put three attractive young women in tight outfits on stage, and have the rather busty bass player jump up and down for the entire set, and I'm still having trouble finding anything interesting in the band, you might want to mix things up a little bit.
Those Darlins at the Jackpot 11/13/09 from Nick Spacek on Vimeo.
Now, the Spook Lights also stepped up. Granted, I'm pretty sure the addition of go-go dancer Midnight Luxury wasn't a last-minute thing, and more of a way for the band to stand out as they opened for King Khan and BBQ. When your go-go dancer is a fellow with a beard and a heart shaved into the hair on his beer belly, you're not going for sexy, so much as "would you look at that?"
Nick Spacek the Spook Lights' go-go dancer, Midnight Luxury.
The Spook Lights put on a great show. I've reviewed them so much recently, that I really don't have much to say past that, except two things. First, the band seems to keep adding little details to songs that have been set staples for a couple years now, giving the audience an excuse to check them out as they gig often around the area. There's an extended psych freakout in "Scarum Harum" that fades out and then comes back to the tribal drumbeat. It's that sort of controlled craziness that makes the band so entertaining.
Second, if you've ever seen live footage of new wave and punk bands from the early to mid-80s, you'll notice that the crowd pressed up against the stage is dancing. Not nodding their heads, not moshing --DANCING. This happens at Spook Lights shows. The band's fans get up there and boogie. It's amazing. They are, quite literally, the only rock band I've seen able to do that around town, and the Spook Lights deserve kudos for that alone.
I feel a little sad for Wrong Crowd. They played first, to a crowd sorely in need of warming up. They started out with a couple of instrumental numbers, getting people's attention without blasting them out of their seats. As the band gradually worked their way into a short set of garage tunes, people wandered up front, but it seemed like they weren't entirely into the show. Folks would wander up, check out a little bit, and then wander off. It's got to suck to be a band that gets added at the last minute to flesh out a line-up, especially when you're from out of town. If Wrong Crowd had been in KC, they could've at least gotten a few friends out to get a little energy going. As it was, they played well, executing probably the tightest set I've seen them do thus far.
Nick Spacek Wrong Crowd
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