After giving away a few tickets to last night’s Wye Oak show a week or two back, I figured I should probably go check it out, especially since I planned on seeing The Decemberists back in Feb before the most overhyped snow storm of my life postponed that show. But this was good, because this is the kind of band I’d rather see in the comfort of The Magic Stick anyway. We missed out on the first opener Jura but got there just in time to catch the upbeat tunes of Indianapolis band Slothpop. I didn’t catch any pictures of them because, to be 100% honest, it had been a long day and I was enjoy the comfort of a wonderful bar stool, but I still really enjoyed their set. The crowd really got into it too which is always great for an opener. The center of the band had to be lead singer Kristin Newborn and her bright and powerful vocals, but there was much else to like, including the electric violin and the smooth guitar riffs. Great energy from those kids.
Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack took to the stage to set up and the crowd cheered when Wasner finally turned on her full distortion during the sound check. I’d read that Stack plays drums with his right hand and the keyboard with his left and thought it was an exaggeration on how he multitasks with his instruments, but I didn’t realize that he quite literally plays both at the same time. Add in Wasner’s clean and in your face guitar and you would hardly believe this was a two piece playing everything live if you weren’t seeing it with your own eyes. Of course my favorite parts were the guitar solos that were blasted into my ears throughout the night (because who doesn’t love a gal who knows her way around a guitar like that?). Throughout the set, she commented on how this was their first time in Detroit and they didn’t really have high expectations but were extremely pleasantly surprised by the whole experience (and that’s what we like to here from people who had never been here, and what I try to tell everyone all the time). Another interesting tidbit was that Wasner plays Reverend guitars which are made right here in Detroit, so she said it was a homecoming of sorts. All in all, a pretty fantastic way to spend a Friday night. Check out a few not that exciting pics below, because I haven’t taken pics at a show since January so I’m a little out of practice (not that I was any good to begin with), and also head over to NPR to check out their brand new visually stunning video for “Fish” which is essentially an awesome and elaborate shadow puppet show.
