Best Coast w/ Dog Party, A B & The Sea and Produce Produce

This was my first concert at the rather Free Mason like meeting hall turned concert venue that is The Oddfellows Hall in downtown Davis. There is literally a throne at the back, so it definitely has the feel of a room where a bunch of men dress up in funny cloths and try to rule the world. Overall my feel of the place was mixed. While I did enjoy the ankle high, intimate feel of the stage, the sound was rather muddled except for Best Coast where it was only passable. Maybe that was the guy at the mixing board, maybe it was the hall itself, but it certainly didn’t wow me. That said I had an overall good time at the show with some rough patches that can be glossed over. One unfortunate thing that I should point out is that the venue was only half full for four bands ,which is kind of shame. The Entertainment Council on campus definitely needs to learn how to advertise these shows to the community rather than just students. The friend I went with, who had just seen Best Coast the night before in S.F., didn’t even know about the show which is kind of telling.

Best Coast, from L.A., are riding a lot of publicity off of their singles and great album released this year that I’ve already commented on. Putting aside the, honestly, kitschy talk about her cats and ingesting/smoking weed, the live show definitely lived up to expectations. The band’s brand of garage-y-girl-surf rock is just as good live as on the record, maybe even a little better. The only thing I wish is that more baritone guitar would have been present in the mix as I could only hear it if I was watching him play the thing (Signal Matched Filter what, what).  It was really great to see such a big buzz band right up close, in such an intimate setting and so cheaply too.

Dog Party are a sister duo from Sacramento who play really simple punk music and age from twelve on the drums to fourteen on guitar. You wouldn’t be able to tell the age of the drummer just from her playing as she can hit those skins like almost no other I have heard, seriously already-ready for prime-time. That doesn’t hold true as much for the guitarist, though I have to admit that the sound she got out of that hollow body Hofner guitar and Big Muff Pi glossed over any she mistakes made. One thing of advice for the ladies I have is don’t announce the title of all your songs, it kind of insults the intelligence of your audience a little bit. Also be sure to buy that t-shirt cannon soon, girls.

A B & The Sea from San Francisco are probably the perfect band if you want to hear some classic Beach Boys sounds. I saw the band fairly recently at Sophia’s and while this time their set was rained on by a unsatisfying mix, they were still happy enough to play and I was happy enough to listen. I jokingly asked the keyboardist if I could jump in on the solo at some point, but unfortunately, the opportunity did not present itself. That’s most likely for the best as no one wants to hear me pretend I can play piano. Hopefully they can return to Davis soon and they can get a better mix as they are worth seeing if you have the time.

The local band on the bill this evening were Produce Produce who have a surprisingly conventional sound for a band composed of so many people from other KDVS associated acts. I can’t really comment to much on the band as I only caught three songs after arriving a bit late. One thing I can say is that reverb on the vocals had that over done, almost covering up something quality which isn’t a good sign. On the positive side their bassist was certainly doing a great job on the band’s low end. Maybe I’ll get to see them at a house show soon enough and form a more fair opinion of the band.

---