Thursday, April 22

Starlite Room

There is only so much hippy one can take.  And even though it is so amusing to watch this counter-culture assemble, the neo-hippy movement continues to be so self-assured that they are a counter-culture, when they are anything but.  So many white teenagers  with dreadlocks and leather sandals  joined hand in hand with a few girls with homemade dresses and mismatched scarves, and last, but not least, a couple token aggressive frat-boys who clearly don't concert too often off to the side.

Sure, going to a show with Victorian soulful, mellow mood vibe-rockers, Jon and Roy, comes with its absolute guarantees (these hippies being the one guarantee I'd put most of my money on). And sure, you're going to get the occasional whiff of patchouli and marijuana.  Without question a show like this comes with a bit of a predictable vibe and, often times, it's kind of annoying watching the whole 'one love ' thing happen in such foreseeable ways. (There was one point in particular where a little circle dance unfolded with an unfortunate 'hands raised to the air' crescendo). But all in all, you can't help but feeling a bit more zen when you leave a show like this, I suppose.

Unfortunately, Jon and Roy's live show doesn't quite stack up to their recorded material.  A lot of their pretty interesting drumming patterns and solid guitar work was lost in the mix and worst of all, the vocals were lost and ultra flat.  It's difficult to tell if this was a result of the sound being terrible this particular night or if the mellow guys play a mellow set.  The stellar cover of Blackalicious' 'Alphabet Aerobics' saved the middle of the show, as J and R showed their eclectic roots, however, moments with this much energy were few and far between. I had pretty high expectations for this show, I'll admit and I suppose my feelings toward the mainly lame crowd came through.