This will be an insane week, show wise. Thanks to Coachella, lots of amazing shows are happening this week and next at our local venues. We're going to four of those shows, and I am simultaneously thrilled and exhausted just thinking about it. Let's jump right into this mess!
We're easing into it with a nice, calm show at The Observatory with a band Brandon likes called Poliça. (He kept calling them Policia, so I thought it might be a Mexican Police cover band until I looked it up and corrected him.) American band, Polish name. Brandon's interest was sparked because the lead singer was involved with Gayngs. They are a bit boring for me, but of course I am always willing to go to one of B's shows since I drag him along to so many of mine!
The Observatory must still be remodeling the upstairs because they were still seating for dinner downstairs, and the night started off well for us because they gave us one of the booths in the highest tier rather than the uncomfortable tables/chairs. We soon realized this was probably not because we've developed a rapport with the host, but rather because the place was completely dead. Even towards 8pm (supposed show time) there were still maybe only 50 people on the floor, which may have contributed to the delay in starting. Brandon got his fave, the Nebula which is basically a fancy bacon cheeseburger, and a few minutes later we heard the waitress tell another diner that they were out of bacon. After initially high fiving B for getting the last of the bacon, I started thinking that was odd to run out of the item that makes up two of the five entree items. Although the food is very good, they really need to get it together a bit and provide more options, or at the very least be able to provide the few options they do have.
Something we noticed right away was that the dj seemed to be relying pretty heavily on Radiohead for the pre-show music... and then a commercial came on. Apparently on nights like that they are content to use Spotify instead of a live person. This would be fine, but at least spring for the paid version. I struggled to stay awake while listening to all that Radiohead while simultaneously becoming impatient for the show to begin.
Finally the opener appeared at almost 9, as mentioned. We had joked about their name, Night Moves, with the host when we first got there, singing the Bob Seger song. It's a bit cheesetastic. As soon as they barely strummed their instruments, I said it was gonna be loud and popped in my earplugs. Brandon scoffed at me, and then started whacking me with one hand and the other held out for his own when they commenced playing. It was blown out and uncomfortable to say the least, but the earplugs helped tremendously. Those babies have been lifesavers on more than one occasion. Anyway, this band was was not really noteworthy, except that one of their songs was called Cosmic Titties. I approve.
Poliça went on around 10ish, and I comforted myself in the fact that they only have one album so there was no way they could play for much more than an hour. Pretty negative attitude, I know, but it was my thought process. As I am not a fan and had only heard a couple songs before last night, I can't really comment on how they sounded except that I couldn't understand anything the lead singer said. I kept imagining lyrics based on the sounds she was making and concluded that their songs contain lyrics such as "slap the donkey," "you play with cheese," and "I'll ride your foreskin." Brandon claims none of that is true, but I stand by what I heard. I guess I am just not cool enough to get them. They are from Minnesota, but the lead singer is super pretentious, all twitchy with a weird, with an affected accent. Maybe she is originally from another country, but she claimed she is from Colorado and Minnesota so... yea. No idea what to make of her whole demeanor, which was off putting to me. Brandon pointed out that she reminded him of the short haired chick from The Following, and I couldn't see anything but that when I looked at her going forward. Late in the show she announced something about having self esteem issues which also kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I only nodded off briefly, and it was much more upbeat than I expected.
Brandon, on the other hand, enjoyed the show very much. He said they were very tight and was extremely impressed that they have no guitar player - just an incredible bassist and two drummers, and then the lead singer doing a bunch of freaky sampling of her own voice and other noises. I thought that part was entertaining. He also really enjoyed the lighting, mostly because of the interesting mix of colors, such as blending fuschia with the blue, or yellow with green, creating an interesting contrast and contributing to the overall vibe.
The highlight for me was that they closed with a cover of Nobody by Keith Sweat, complete with piles of AutoTune and funky beats. Surprising, but strong.
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