What, Again?

In the interest of proving that you can never have too much music in one day, I went out to a show tonight, my third today.

The line was long at Strange Matter to get in and Sleepwalkers was already playing when I found my spot next to the master of the light show, Dave.

Tuning in to Sleepwalkers sprawling set, the guy next to me observed, "That song sounded like Squeeze."

Which it had, but as I pointed out, these guys probably had no idea who Squeeze were.

"Difford and Tilbrook, huh?" he joked. Indeed.

But Squeeze was as recent as their sound got, most of it hovering around the '70s with muscular riffs and posturing guitar solos the crowd ate up.

They even slid in a bit of Foghat's "Slow Ride" just because they could.

During the break, the guy next to me asked if I was Karen, remembering me (and my blog) from a summertime Wild Nothing show.

His only complaint with the blog was that I didn't like Penny Lane Pub. And I was at Rosie Connelly's earlier this week, so it's not like I categorically hate British pubs or anything.

"You're my idol," he said. "You're always eating out, you go to so many shows and you don't have a cell phone."

As a lawyer, that third one was probably the kicker and he's got to be the only person in the universe who idolizes me for those things, but I'll take idolatry where I can get it.

White Laces was up next and he'd asked me what I liked about them and not even two songs in, concurred that they were incredibly tight.

"I hear Peter Buck," he said of Landis' guitar work, which I enjoy as much as I do the constant motion of his energetic playing.

We heard songs from the last album and even better, a few from the upcoming one, all with that sound that promises they won't be in Richmond much longer.

During the break I talked to friends - the scientist, the stand-up drummer, the sound guy - and watched the crowd grow for Avers, the band that's been on everyone's lips lately.

They don't want to be called a supergroup, but with members of the Head and the Heart, Mason Brothers, the Trillions, Farm Vegas and Hypercolor, they could be.

With four guitars, bass and drums, there was a lot of dense sound but it was the fact that five of them sang that I liked best.

The lawyer and I agreed that their sound pulled from many places. There was a definite psychedelic thing going on, along with elements of roots rock, folk and alt-country and in many cases, it was the killer drumming that tied a song together magnificently.

I was partial to the way they traded instruments as easily as they traded lead vocals, but then I'm always a sucker for multi-talented types.

At the end of it all, the lawyer gave them an A-.

At the end of my three-show day, I'm thinking I just proved my point.