Go See the Pernice Brothers Tonight!

Joe Pernice

Last night's lineup at Spaceland was one of the weirdest I've seen in a while. Birdmonster played their high energy, bar band music to a heavy industry crowd. During their set a bunch of older, bearded hippies started showing up and seemed a little confused. It was kind of like mixing an opium crowd with a Budweiser crowd. There were rumors that Devendra Banhart was in one of the bands, and sure enough, I saw him stride in. He politely watched the end of Birdmonster's set and applauded (and overall seemed like a good guy). It took the next band about 45 minutes to set up, and Banhart eventually played a few songs with them. The energy was noticeably higher with him on stage. No idea what they were called - but the singer was kind of Nico-ish, mostly monotone. They definitely didn't play for as long as they spent setting up. After that, Pit er Pat played. They had more of a Blonde Redhead meets Tortoise vibe (without the vibes of course). Very weird mix of attendees.

Tonight's Pick:

Pernice Brothers / Elvis Perkins @ Spaceland ($10) – I will definitely be in attendance for this one. Joe Pernice is one of my favorite lyricists (P’fork constantly rips his “clichéd” lyrics, but you know how I feel about P’fork). Even though hiis new album is probably my least favorite Pernice Brothers record (some of the arrangements aren’t as good as they could be), I still gave it a B+. He grew up listening to the Smiths (who he wrote a book about) and New Order (who he has covered) but also has elements of Big Star, Teenage Fanclub, The Left Banke, The Zombies and loads of other bands I love. Hopefully they’ll play the Zombies’ cover (Butcher’s Tale) they’ve been doing. As long as I’m making requests, how about: “Monkey Suit,” “Clear Spot,” “Working Girls,” “7:30,” “Bryte Side,” “Flaming Wreck,” “The Weakest Shade of Blue,” “Sometimes I Remember,” “There Goes the Sun,” “My So-Called Celibate Life,” “B.S. Johnson,” “PCH One” and other new ones. Get there in time for Elvis Perkins. He used to play with Let’s Go Sailing and his solo material is supposed to be special.

Also appearing:

Kevin Federline @ House of Blues (too much)
The Rolling Stones @ Dodger Stadium (Sold Out) – They’re one of the greatest rock’n’roll bands of all time, but damn are they old. I saw them at Dodger Stadium about eight years ago and had a good time. That five year period from 1968-1972 has to be one of the most creatively productive periods in rock history (you know - along with the Beatles 1965-1969).
The Lemonheads / Vietnam @ the Troubadour ($22) – Anybody go last night?