Page 31 - the NOISE October 2014

>> ContinUeD FRoM 29 >> soFt White siXties the GReen RooM, lAte sePteMBeR ‘14
jjjjj review by clair anna rose
b Ugh
bb Eh
bbb Solid
bbbb Gold bbbbb Total Classic
where the hell is everyone?
I’m at the Green Room on a Thurs- day night, and I know I’m not the only per-
son in town. NAU has just begun again and the roads have been experiencing a fair share of summertime congestion, but it’s just me at the bar, writing and waiting for a show to start.
The band that was supposed to open for the Soft White Sixties canceled. The Soft White Sixties are waiting for a crowd to show before they begin.
An hour or so later the band begins to play. I’m skeptical. I don’t know anything about The Soft White Sixties and I’m pretty selective about the music I listen to. As a rule, if it was produced after 1976 I tend to stay away. Of course there are exceptions, but those are few and far between. As another rule (I like my rules) I don’t write about things I don’t like, because as a rule (number 3) I don’t like to be a jerk about other people’s art.
I find a tall table, an obliging surface to lean on and find myself writing.
Flagstaff where are you? These guys are so good!
And they are damn good, but you should have known that, because I just said I wasn’t going to write about them if I didn’t like them. It’s called foreshadowing.
Their music, originals from their CD “Get Right” and Self Titled EP, with a few choice covers (Children of the Revolution) mixed in, is hard to find a comparison for. Their songs build upon each other perfectly. Their energy escalates on the stage. Their sound transcends genre and era, combin- ing elements of rock and roll, blues, funk and soul. The small crowd that came out tonight is dancing and I feel like dancing ... but I got to work up to it. It won’t be until hours later that I am finally loosened up enough to dance.
Their music has danceability and depth. In the weeks that follow I enjoy listening to their CDs and being able to understand the lyrics a little clearer.
photo by rene r. rivas
The song “Rubber Band,” has a certain chilling quality to it with lyrics “Your teeth fall out in your dreams.” Which makes me immediately like the song, as I have been dreaming about my teeth falling out for as long as I can remember.
“Better Way,” slows the show down for a bit. The soulful, bluesy beat and sound have the quality some songs do to take you somewhere far away in your mind. It’s the kind of song that makes you wish you had someone to dance slow and close with. I settle for leaning on my table and writing that thought down. The line that really digs at me in this song is: “No noth- ing’s quite wrong, but nothing’s quite right, you know that kind of feeling when it’s too damn quiet to sleep at night.”
It’s the kind of music that gives you a bad case of wanderlust.
Once I work through the initial discom- fort of being in a crowd (or, as the case may be, the anticipation of being in a crowd) I want to be still and observe. I like to see what’s happening on stage. The way the lead singer sings with his whole body, tambourine accenting the songs and the music starting up in the soles of his feet, channeling through his body and draw- ing in the whole room. The whole band seems to reverberate with the music, their passion for their art apparent in each note that hits the air.
It was one of those nights where Flag- staff has that small town feel, it happens every now and then that an amazing band will come through town and people just don’t show. And it’s not even snowing!
The only thing regrettable about The Soft White Sixties show was that it was over too soon. When you hear something that makes you feel good you want to keep on hearing it.
| Clair Anna Rose is a seasoned stage stomper. clair@thenoise.us
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news •
OCTOBER 2014 • 31