Thee Fine Lines / Blackbelts at Mangia 12/8/2010 - Show Review
More or less people than at a typical Riverboat Gamblers STL show?
Definitely less. Well less than say, typical, but RBG once played the old 2 Cents Plain and there were only about 20 people there. This show had like 10, but it was still real good. It was freezing, I guess that stops some people. Hail hail Empty City!
How’d the vibe compare to a typical Riverboat Gamblers STL show?
Comparatively up-beat. Less “Hey! Hey! Hey!” fist-pumping, more ass-shakin’ “Oh girl you don’t know, you done me wrawng” type of thing. Love Thee Fine Lines each and every time. Classic garage pop like the Sonics, etc. I’d been meaning to catch Chicago’s Blackbelts for a while and they didn’t let me down. Shake! shake! too with a bit more rock n roll gruff. I think the bass player was a sleeping robot though. The drummer sang, always a plus in my book. In between bands the guy from Phono Mode/Freezerburn zine (Ben maybe?) played records. That was real cool. $1.50 Stags at Mangia, can’t beat it! Don’t think I’ve ever had a Stag at a Riverboat Gamblers show.
How’d the merch compare to a typical Riverboat Gamblers STL show?
Less skulls, patches, knives, and roosters. More sexy 7”s. The fellas in Thee Fine Lines run a small label called Wee Rock Records so their table was a mini Wee Rock record store. Blackbelts had their share as well, including their great new split with fellow Chicagoians (and one of my favorite bands) The Safes.
Scion Garage Fest wrap-up
Wanted to post a quick wrap-up of last weekend’s Scion Garage Fest. I ain’t much for writing about music (er, in a descriptive/informative way), so I’ll just say we had a blast! It was FREE and while got to see a bunch of great bands (Bad Sports, White Wires, The Lamps, Best Coast, Teenanger, Hunx and His Punx, The Clean, The Oblivians) there are bunches more we missed (The Gories, The Greenhornes, Cola Freaks, Tyvek, Thee Oh Sees, etc).
Lawrence, KS is a really cool town with a bunch of great music venues, can’t wait to return!
Here are a few pix:
The Bottleneck - We made the 6hr drive from St. Louis just in time to check in to the hotel and jet to The Bottleneck to catch Bad Sports and The Lamps (that’s Hunx in the shorts, center!)
The Lamps at The Bottleneck
Best Coast at Liberty Music Hall
The Oblivians at The Grenada
