I saw a cool “stoner” rock show at the Café du Nord on Saturday March 28, 2009. It was Earthless, The Wooden Shjips and Eyes. It was a chilly night and the club was packed, but the music delivered the one-two-three punch.
Eyes was the opener and they were pretty interesting. There was a certain “psychedelic” undertone to the music, with all the effected vocals and mix of keyboards, guitar and saxophone. The drummer, by the way, was excellent. The only complaint I had was that the keyboards were too loud along side the other instruments. The band features members of The Finches and The Roots of Orchis.
Sandwiched between Eyes and Earthless was San Francisco’s (and KUSF’s darlings) The Wooden Shjips. They dimmed the lights in the club and tore out with some heavy jams, and they did not disappoint. Their music was tight and they grooved non-stop for what felt like an hour, one right after another. It was a circus of sound that kept us all plugged in. The audience was captivated and so was I.
Last but certainly not least, the headliner – Earthless from San Diego – came on and rocked (and I mean ROCKED) till the end of the night. They maneuvered in and out of free form jams to calculated grooves like the best surfers riding the biggest waves (silly analogy, I know). It was heavy, loud and traveled quite extensively throughout the internal landscape. The bass player was super-duper consistent and the drummer was slammin’ as he seemed to program all the changes. The guitar player wailed, and then wailed some more. When it was over, we all knew that it was over.
After my friends and I left the club, we were all pretty fried. I think two bands of that ilk would have been sufficient. But as far as I can tell, I’m still here.
Photos by my friend Ezra Ekman (http://www.ezraphoto.com)