Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Setlists and Reviews: Non GD Related Reviews: Archive: SF Weekend: Rasputina, Five Eyed Hand, Mother Hips

It was another great weekend to be a music lover in the Bay Area!! Lots of choices, never enough time!

My weekend kicked off with Rasputina at the Indy. I saw these guys open for Claypool a year or two back and was interested enough to consider the show. I decided to head over when a music loving friend said he wanted to go too--I've known the guy for at least 6 years, he's a music fanatic too but we've never been to a show together! So just for the sake of our interests overlapping, we had to go!

The opening act, Ruby Throat was terrible. I hated her set. It may have been well executed but it sucked. The 'band' is a skinny, waif, heroin chic sorta gal accompanied by a dude on guitar. The girl wailed and moaned in a high pitched breathy sort of baby talk, while the guitar dude strummed along. If that wasn't enough, there was a background track of crickets chirping and wolves crying played throughout the set. The whole time the girl kinda twitched and jerked about, definitely more performance art than a set of music. I guess that would have been okay if it hadn't been so contrived.

I imagine the people who love this shit call it moody and emotional, the girl is probably baring her deep sensitive side. It was more like a moaning cat in heat to me. At one point, the girl assumed the fetal position and rocked for a bit while she mumbled some breathy chant--a bit like a witch reciting an incantation, so artificial. Completely elaborate and overdone to me. YUCK. The one thing she had going for her was the trainwreck effect. It was bad, but I couldn't stop watching.


Okay, enough about that, on to the headliner, Rasputina. If you don't know, this trio bills itself as 'cello rock', it's two cello players and a drummer. Although, the band is mainly the project of one of the cello plays with the other two rotating frequently. Melora, the main girl, made a crack about how great her 'band' was and to enjoy them now because soon they'll be off making their own solo records, she also mentioned that this show was the 4,724th Rasputina recital, so I'm guessing she's been through a lot of accompanists.

My previous experience with Rasputina definitely lived up to the "rock" part of rock cello, this show, not so much. It makes sense, an opening act, at the Warfield, for Claypool, has to prep the crowd for the headliner. With Rasputina as the headliner, the group had the freedom to do what they wanted. They played one longish set, it was dark and moody, and funny and cartoony all at once. They did a good job at creating a victorian-goth feeling without forcing it down our throats.

I didn't recognize most of the tunes but there were a few covers--American Girl by Tom Petty and Bad Moon Rising by CCR, which she intro'd as a weather conjuring song I liked that. The whole thing was atmospheric and etheral, which was definitely a new twist on a song like American Girl.

Unlike the opener, Rasputina's 'schtick' didn't come across as that at all. They played songs slowly and deliberately, making them creepy and eerie, but nothing was forced, nothing sounded labored. The fact that they wore 'costumes' to compliment their sound and complete the sound of the night with a look and feel was a pleasant addition, not an act. Despite my strong dislike of the opening act, It was a fun night out and well worth the $15 I spent!

^^^Part 1 of a 3-part review??

Wow, you go to a LOTTA shows, Em. Was the Rasputina show on Friday night? And the other 2 shows on Sat. & Sun.?

Looking forward to your 5EH & MH reviews...

Rasputina was Thursday night at the Indy!

Friday night at the Ct. Yankee was 5 Eyed Hand! It was AWESOME! I love this band, check them out if you can! They jam, they groove, they rock, they jazz, they have a whistling drummer! There is nothing they don't do!

This show was a CD release show for their new live album, I picked up a copy but haven't given it a listen yet. I does have my favorite whistling drummer song on it, so I'm stoked!

The setlist for the evening included lots of 5EH originals, mostly instrumentals so I have a hard time keeping the names straight They did Grazin' in the Grass, that one I can identify! and it was the song stuck in my head the next morning! They had a couple guests, everyone's favorite wczj mc, Sam Flot! and Andrew the sax guy. The encore was just in time for the crowd coming in from Kimock at the GAMH, a cover of the Beatles, All Too Much. Always love when they do that one.

Not much to say for this one except I love seeing the local boys do good! Check them out if they're in your area!

5EH rocks! I've only seen Zanardi & Co. twice, but have really enjoyed their music each time!

ah yes, the whistling drummer... he was such a sensation at WCZJ-1, very cool

Rounded out the weekend with the Mother Hips up in Petaluma! Great show, high energy as always. Jackie sat in for the entire long set and encore, always a treat. I got a glimpse of the rumored beard, I'm a beard advocate, I like it! He can't hold a candle to Tim and his beard these days though

Honey Dew
Singing Seems to Ease Me
Del Mar Station
KC Southern
Tired Wings
Time We Had
Transit Wind
Magazine
Mona Lisa
2 Young Queens
Time Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear
3rd Floor Story
Picture of Him
Colonized
Rich Little Girl

E: Turtle Bones
Not sure the name of the 2nd encore, and they didn't stick to the written setlist.

Some of my favorites are missing but plenty of them are on the list too Lots of jamming between the boys, this was definitely a rock show, Greg sounded great as always. They were all spot on, which is definitely part of the attraction...the Hips are a very well balanced band, no big egos dominating, everyone working together! Yay HIPS!!