One of the things I can't stand about living here in Spokane is that the hip indie bands never seem to come my way. Which is why I was surprised last week when I checked pollstar and saw that White Rabbits were coming.
White Rabbits are a band from New York (St. Louis originally, from what I understand) who actually live together. All of them. Pitchfork loves them, Rolling Stone things they're "hype", and before the show last night my opinion landed somewhere in the middle. I'll admit that I hadn't been crazy about ther new record, Fort Nightly, but the lead off track "Kid On My Shoulders" was one of my summer anthems this year. The venue (if you can even call it that), The Empyrean, was a hipster-stinky place like I've never seen around here. I felt a bit out of place in my lime-green quicksilver shirt but, thankfully, I've never cared much about looking cool.
Now, the "stage" was nothing more than what seemed like a garage. There couldn't have been more than 40 people there, and I began to wonder what the band was doing playing such a small show here. As we watched the band set up, it seemed apparent that they were wondering the same thing. I could be absolutely wrong about that, but once the show started all I could think was that the poor attendance was one of the main reasons that the hip indie bands don't even bother stopping here. It's a shame, really, because the show was incredible and band gave their all despite how they may have felt. They kicked things off with "Kid On My Shoulders" and never let up.
The drummers (yes, plural) were the best thing about the show. They had a huge smiles the entire time and seemed genuinely happy to be there. When one wasn't playing during a particular song, he'd be up grooving around the stage while shaking a tambourine or a maracca. The lead singer had a sort-of deer in the headlights look on his face most of the time, but put every ounce of energy into the performance. There is no question that these guys are professionals. What came off as thin on the record popped and exploded live. The songs were incredibly full and satisfying, and while I recognized the songs from the record, I couldn't tell which were ones I had liked or disliked previously because every single one was stellar. I did my best to take good pictures and video, and seeing as how I was only about 5 feet away from them it wasn't that difficult (save for the token tall guy right in front of me). Here's a partial clip I got of them performing "The Plot".
Once the show was done, it was all the bassist could do to get out of that room. He seemed the most displeased with the "venue" and the turnout, but there I go assuming. A few of the other band members made their way past us out the back door to their van parked on the sidewalk for a smoke, and I was able to pat the lead singer on the back and tell him how awesome the show was. Remembering the mistake I'd made earlier this year when I saw Grizzly Bear, I asked for a quick photo. They obliged.
By now I was almost shaking with intense delight in what I had just seen, and I rushed home to put on Fort Nightly to celebrate my newfound appreciation for White Rabbits. Listen to this, if anything:
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Saw these guys on, I believe, Letterman. And I was impressed. Cool album. Screw Rolling Stone AND Pitchfork. I'll rely on a MOGger's opinion any day...
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I can't hate on PF too much cuz they've introduced me to lots of great music. The reviews themselves are, well....I don't need to explain their bloated pretentiousness to any of you, but I've settled for checking their scores and moving on. I respect what they have to say WAY more than the rubbish that RS puts out and calls "reviews".
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It's a double-edged sword when a cool band gets a tepid (or worse) turnout. Part of you is excited because the few of you who are there are mostly true believers. The larger part of you (or me, anyhow) is embarrassed because you don't want the band to realize, as they surely do, what a lame place you come from.
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The song you provide here sounds great, and I'm glad the show turned out even better than their record. Nice picture, too!
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♫ Bill, that's precisely the case. Unless the band gets huge, I can't imagine they'll return here.
♫ Thanks Dale :)
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That's one fantastic song, I gotta say.......mmm. Thanks for the review!
PS cool band name, my avatar says ;)
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I saw them play at Lolla and thoroughly enjoyed the set! I believe Erin and her friend Melissa saw them at a after hours party in Chicago too, but the memories, they fade.
GREAT picture of them outside! Reminds me of the album cover photos of the late 50's and 60's.
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♫ Anna - HA! @ your avatar. That's too funny. Glad you liked the song.
♫ Amber - I wish I had taken a few more pics of them. The one I got up there has only 3 of the band members (the guy with the camera was a reporter of some sort), but after a few minutes, almost the whole band was outside right next to me and I couldn't muster up the courage to ask for more pics.
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Ty! You choked! I have absolutely no shame when it comes to asking for a photo or what not....now, my heart does go pitter pat and my hands shake but I ask. And most of the time (actually, I think all of the time) I have been treated better than I could expect to be treated by the members of the band. Chris Funk of the Decemberists bought me a drink, Ghostland Observatory put us on their guest list, and I have autographed posters/CD's, etc that just make my toes curl to think of. I think most of these guys know without us, they would be working some crappy job and not doing what they love to do and getting paid for it.
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And some of them love lime green.
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these are the best shows! i love low turn out shows for great bands. you really get to see and hear them, and usually meet them. you won't get that at lolla! and god bless the bands that risk their lives driving to hell and back to play them. i too live in an out of the way location fro touring bands, so i can definitely sympathize tybees. my old band played at ichabods a couple of times en-route to missoula, before it burnt to the ground. it was a meth infested pit, but the audiences were always appreciative. that's the best.
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It really was an incredible experience to be so close and get to talk to the band afterwards, and I'm definitely appreciative. It had to have been grueling for them to travel up this way before hitting Seattle, which is why I was more than happy to post about it and hopefully give them more exposure. I saw Bright Eyes a few weeks before at a larger venue, and it wasn't half as good.
I remember Ichabod's, but in it's heyday I was too young to get in. And, unfortunately, there's a lot of meth problems around this area. We rarely even hear about them on the news anymore because it's become so commonplace.
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glad you had a good show. i know i am stoked to see good ones like that here. ichabod's was a trip. it was pretty ugly in there. the owner was down in the basement feeding the fiends. i went down there once, and said thanks but no thanks. there is tons of meth here too, so common it's a little scary at times. cops are freely shooting out of control tweakers down on a regular basis, and few bat an eye. during the heyday of the timber industry it paid well to stay up all night at work, tweakin. the family mills were all sold to texas billionaires (maxxam corp), who cut all the trees as fast as they could to maximize profits, and left all the workers literally high and dry. now there's nothing but a welfare check, and the meth habit. sad. i know this is not an area specific problem. i think it's all over the states. corporate america, f-ing us up.
not far from you in richland washington there was a cool record store called atomic city records that put on some good shows. tiny venue in a funky strip mall, but some good punk shows...
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Ok now you're jogging my memory. I believe it was discovered that the owner of Ichabods had purposely torched the place for the insurance money. Talk about being left high and dry lol.
I haven't seen the movie, but someone was telling me that in "Fast Food Nation", it is explained how the factories who make the "meat" for your big macs will hire immigrants to do the dangerous work and get them hooked on meth so that when they injure themselves, the company is not liable and the worker is left with a debilitating injury and no recourse. Sick sick sick.
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yes, that is in the movie. great flick. you will think twice before eating at any fast food place again. reminds me of a song by mdc (millions of dead cops) corperate deathburger!
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yeah they are really sweet and righteous live....saw them at Austin City Limits this year...coolio.
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Love dive 'hipster' venues such as The Empyrean. Enjoyed the post: a great photo, song, and written account. Sounds like a smashingly cool evening. Cheers!