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| Retribution Gospel Choir with Laarks at House of Rock |
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| Written by John Abbott | |||
| Thursday, 19 November 2009 18:00 | |||
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The baby faced Ian Jacoby was not so. He was sporting his winter stubble, as Laarks opened for Retribution Gospel Choir at House of Rock. It was the first time I have seen the Choir, a good experience. The many'th time I have seen Laarks, outstanding. And, some music by a new band worthy of your time. It was a good night to be at the House of Rock.
(update on November 22nd 2009. I really didn't like the video clip I had posted on this article. I didn't feel like it was a good representation of the Laarks, more due to my bad camera handling than any other reason. So, I replaced it with a clip from earlier in the evening where I spent half a song dicking with the new camera and then got a pretty good clip at the end of the song. Enjoy!) Musical low point? Had to be the closing song. Sadly, it happened to be the song I video taped because I had some camera trouble earlier. Important note to self. When your new video camera shows up from your eBay seller, take a few minutes at home to learn how to run it. Don't take it straight to a show. So even as it was, my labeled low point, was it really all that bad? No not really. I didn't recognize it, I assume it is something new they are working on. It wasn't quite as polished and lacked the punch I was hoping for to close out that part of a great night. As much as I'm a fan of hearing band's new music, I was a little bummed to have it as the closer. Mid-act that stuff dudes, we will eat it up! Still, it was a great show and very exciting to be in a small crowd with such talented people on the stage. And, I don't think you should let my anticlimactic moment effect your desire to see them live. Do it. Laarks are a must hear. Also, It seemed very much like a battle of the drummers night between Brian Moen of Laarks and Andrew Thacker Todryk drummer for Farms. You can't tell me that Andrew didn't at some point video tape Brian for prolonged study of style. But regardless of if there was video involved or not, there were definitely two outstanding drummers on stage on Wednesday night.
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 November 2009 05:58 |
So, first impressions of Retribution Gospel Choir. There were times that I liked them quite a lot. But, that's not all the time. It was an interesting music. A song starts with a beat and a sound which seems familiar from back in the day. It seems like if it keeps going, just a little bit longer, you can come up with it. The name is on the tip of your tongue. But then it morphs into something quite different. And sometimes this difference is really exceptional. 
Warming up for Laarks was Farms. A very interesting two piece band I had never seen before. Totally worth seeing again. The interesting part, I feel their sound is like they reverse traditional roles and have the drums on lead. Then on synths, there is the accompaniment. It worked really nice for me. Some of the beats were really outstanding. The music had a great flow. I was short cash or I would have walked out of there with one of their CDs. Another reason to see them again. You gotta remember, this is also coming from the guy who hates drum solos during shows, so seeing a band like this , where it is so upfront with the drums, it is saying a lot.