Akron / Family and Mi &
Akron/Family and Mi & L’au
Denton, TX
We made the hour trip to Denton from Dallas, drove the wrong way on the one way streets in the downtown square, found a place to park out back and took a seat at the bar just in time to catch the last part of local band Shear Water’s set as we notice the “$2 you call it” sign. These guys are rockin’ the banjo like nobody I’ve ever seen before and singing a folk-ish pop ditty of “These drugs just aren’t working like they used to”, but from my perspective, these cheap kamikazes are starting to work just like they’re supposed to.
If you’ve heard Mi & L’au’s record (and you should’ve!), you know that their minimal style is not well suited for a noisy bar full of drunken college kids out on a Tuesday night. There’s a dull roar of the chatter from the crowd there for the cheap drinks and constantly bar glasses clattering in the background. And that’s all it takes to overpower their delicate guitars and hushed vocals if you’re more than 10 feet from the stage. Fortunately there’s a stocky little dude with long hair, wearing a sweater vest and hushing people with authority if they get too loud. And fortunately again, this is the kind of venue and crowd where you can get right up against the front of the stage and enjoy the show as if it’s being played especially for you, and that’s exactly how it feels. I catch up with Mi and L’au after the show to briefly interrupt them being asked by some chick if they have a label. “You guys are great”, I say, but I really wanted to say, “Sorry about the drunk kid yelling ‘What the fuck is this?!’ in the middle of your set.” Too bad sweater vest guy didn’t take him out back and kick the shit out of him.
[Several cheap drinks later]
As the Akron / Family boys come out to get ready, bassist and lead vocalist, Miles Seaton, sans-shirt with a bandana covering his face, ties a Steven Tyler-esque piece of fabric around his mic stand and is obviously going to be the liveliness of the show. Ryan Vanderhoof hangs a little stuffed star (I think it was a star) on his, and other than a little arranging of equipment, that’s about all it’s going to take to rock the freak-folk like nobody else out there. I won’t get to bed until 4 in the morning and have to be up at 7 for work, but this is one band that is worth missing a few hours of sleep to see.
On their records, they have a little more restraint and conformity, especially while doing their part with Michael Gira as Angels of Light, but in a smoky bar in North Texas - “Glad to be here. We’ve never played Arkansas before!” - it’s another story. All caution is thrown to the wind along with most of the folkishness and their noisier moments and rowdy attitude take over completely. And make for the best show I’ve seen in quite some time.
Highlight moments come one after the other with these guys, but standout moments included a stomping, thrashing rendition of “Moment” with Seaton ripping on the strings of his green bass harder and faster than most metal bands, a swaying moment of relative relaxation with “Future Myth” and the band climbing down into the crowd and forming a sweaty jam circle with fans tightly packed around them singing repeated background vocals of “love and space”, I think it was love and space, the $2 drinks were flowing and these guys played for hours.
After about 10 minutes of hippy time, they head back to the stage for a roof-raising version of “Raising The Sparks” that only a paraplegic could keep from stomping his feet to. And finally ending the show with some proper rock ‘n roll antics, Seaton proceeds to stumple around the tiny stage, nearly falling off of it backwards, shoving all the mics into the amps for massive amounts of feedback and joins Seth Olinsky and Dana Janssen for a 3 man attack on the drums while Vanderhoof stays politely seated playing his guitar. Classic.
I said it before, but I’ll say it again… DO NOT miss these guys when they tear up your town.
The rest of the current tours are:
Akron / Family
Fri, Feb 10, 2006 Bellingham WA - Chiribins w/ Sir Richard Bishop
Sat, Feb 11, 2006 Seattle WA - Tractor Tavern w/ Sir Richard Bishop
Thu Mar 2, 2006 Nanaimo BC - The Cambie
Fri Mar 3, 2006 Victoria BC - Lucky Bar
Sat Mar 4, 2006 Vancouver BC - Media Club
Mon Mar 6, 2006 Calgary AB - Broken City
Tue Mar 7, 2006 Edmonton AB - Velvet Lounge
Wed Mar 8, 2006 Saskatoon Canada SK - Amigo’s
Thu Mar 9, 2006 Winnipeg MB - Royal Albert Hotel
Fri Mar10, 2006 Fargo ND - VFW Hall
Sat Mar 11, 2006 Minneapolis MN - 7th Street Entry
Tue Mar 14, 2006 Iowa City IA - The Mill
Wed Mar 15,2006 Urbana IL - Canopy Club
Thu Mar 16, 2006 Milwaukee WI - Onopa Brewing Company
Fri Mar17, 2006 Muncie IN - Ball State Student Center Tally Room
Sat Mar 18, 2006 Chicago IL - Empty Bottle
Sun Mar 19, 2006 Grand Rapids MI - Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts
Mon Mar 20, 2006 Detroit MI - Lager house
Tue Mar 21, 2006 Toronto ON - Music Gallery at St. George the Martyr Church
Wed Mar 22, 2006 Ottawa ON - Zaphod Beeblebrox
Thu Mar 23, 2006 Quebec City QC - L’ Arlequin
Fri Mar 24, 2006 Sackville NB - George’s Roadhouse
Sat Mar 25, 2006 Halifax NS - Stage Nine
Mon Mar 27, 2006 Saint John NB - Elwoods
Tue Mar 28, 2006 Portland ME - SPACE Gallery
Wed Mar 29, 2006 Albany NY - Valentine’s
Thu Mar 30, 2006 Bronx NY - Fordham University
Fri Mar 31, 2006 Salisbury MD - Salisbury College
Sat Apr 1, 2006 Brooklyn NY - Secret Loft
Mi & L’au
and Born Heller should be worth checking out as well.
Fri 2/10/06 O’leavers Omaha, NE
Sat 2/11/06 Larimer Lounge Denver CO w/ Born Heller
Mon 2/13/06 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City UT w/ Born Heller
Tue 2/14/06 Neurolux Boise, ID w/ Born Heller
Wed 2/15/06 Towne Lounge Portland OR w/ Born Heller
Thu 2/16/06 Sunset Tavern Seattle WA w/ Born Heller
Fri 2/17/06 321 Kennewick WA w/ Born Heller
Sat 2/18/06 Eagle’s Hall Olympia WA w/ Born Heller
Mon 2/20/06 Delta of Venus Davis Ca w/ Born Heller
Tue 2/21/06 Cafe Du Nord San Francisco CA w/ Born Heller
Wed 2/22/06 The Attic Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Ca w/ Born Heller
Thu 2/23/06 The Mainzer Theater Merced CA w/ Born Heller
Fri 2/24/06 The Monday Club San Luis Obispo CA w/ Born Heller
Sat 2/25/06 Arthurball at the Echo in Los Angeles CA w/ Born Heller
Mon 2/27/06 Casbah San Diego CA w/ Born Heller
Tue 2/28/06 Plush Tucson AZ w/ Born Heller
Thu 3/2/06 La Zona Rosa Austin TX
Sat 3/4/06 Jack Pot Saloon Lawrence KS
Mon 3/6/06 High Five Columbus OH
Tue 3/7/06 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH
Wed 3/8/06 Garfield Artworks Pittsburgh PA
Thu 3/9/06 Valentine’s Albany NY
Fri 3/10/06 Tonic New York NY
*All photographs by and property of Casey Kinney. Thanks for the shots brother. He’ll have a site up soon with tons of excellent photography spanning years of going to shows.dirty dancing moviemovie porn monsterwarehouse movie postermovie female naked starsnaked teen moviesold adult moviesmovies lesbian oldon movie dvd oldblack peterbilt dog movie in truck used theporn star galleries moviehome loan financial advanced services incloan abcadvance cash fast loan$10,000 loanchance loan 2ndcollateral loan as accounts receivableadvanced loans paymentno loans doc home 1 Mapadult sex partiesabout teen advicesex chat aanalysis 1984 criticalanalysis advertisingsex alien-snatchattack gameteen ametur30v input analog Map7100t ringtones freedollar month 20 a ringtonesagency warringtonalcatel ringtones phone system1234 ringtoneringtone 5165dc ac mobile ringtoneringtone nextel free 860 i Mapringtones 0.99free 8700 ringtone blackberryringtone song 311 love3570 ringtone polyphonic free nokia50 candy ringtone shop centfree 3210 code ringtone3310 ringtone composerno ringtone free absolutely charge for Mapcant ringtone here adults thismy razr access ringtoneshertz 17 ringtoneringtone mix 80s120t send ringtone32 leaves ringtones3com telephone ringtones nbxringtone gd 67 Maphardcore movies valentine staceyfigure stick moviesmovies straponmovies teen mpegs freemovies thumbzillamovie forum adultbbs movies lolitastripping free movies Mapaafes credit exchange$300 per return credit tax childeverett city credit union alllaw association accredited american schools barchicago mls accredited il degreecredit visa aaa card loginacredited in university louisianacontinuing credit ace education Mapbaby fuck pedo moviemovies bachelorette partiesbbw free moviesclips bdsm streamimg free moviemovies pussies beauitful plumpgirl movies bigfucking movies blondeheat movie body Mapcomp free casinos allamerican casino gamesaces casino spokane515 scroe creditcasino albertaall-inclusive casino resortsamericans native gambling againstin arizona over and 18 casinos Mapinquiries abusive credit5000 loan 00 bad personal unsecured creditsecured credit used about carcredits tax 2008 energy360 credit default actual swapinterest no month cares credit 17bloodshed 300 creditscredit for life bachelor accredited Map
1 comment February 10th, 2006
Mi and L’au