It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a show, at least in my mind.  So last night I had the opportunity for revisit White Denim as well as check out a couple of similar bands with Manchester Orchestra being the most well known.  I’ve been to some shows outside of  Stubb’s before and even though the sound was kind of weird, it was still a pretty good time.  The opening bands showed some promise but I don’t think I gave them too much of a fair shake because I was distracted by college football.  That’s okay, however, as they were interesting enough for me to check them out online.

I intentionally starved myself in the afternoon so I could warm up to the BBQ that Stubb’s provides.  It’s tasty but it isn’t the best on the planet.  For a concert venue, they have one of the best choices.  I grubbed on a pulled pork sandwich while Little Hurricane took the stage.  The setup was much like The White Stripes, except that they were Southern Californian and utilized slide guitar alot more.  They have promise and I found myself getting into their groove technical difficulties threw the whole set off.  They worked through it and did a decent job of starting things off.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GilFk4Hu1qY[/youtube]

Next up was The Dear Hunter.  I think what we are seeing nowadays in terms of rock is a direct influence of Jack Black to lead singers/players.  The dude up front was definitely a bear and wailed while the rest of the band provided a nice progressive rock flow.  Sometimes the groove would trip me up but for others I fell right in step.  The harder songs I liked way more than the slower jams.  Maybe it’s my perception of the lead singer.  Who knows.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fF-6Aj-1ew[/youtube]

White Denim is who I really came to see and the first two opening acts hinted at the kind of set we would see for the night.  Back at Antone’s they had the freedom to play alot longer and subsequently had the ability to string together songs that were high in energy and then slow.  The theme of the night was progressive rock jam so with the time they had, White Denim played more of their fast paced jams.  I enjoyed “Buck Wild” again but missed out on some of their slower songs.  The earlier set at Antone’s was better but this was pretty good too.  I especially liked how the rest of the band participated more.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTtAQLPrpjI[/youtube]

The last band of the night was Manchester Orchestra.  I listened to them on Spotify to get prepped for the show but somehow missed out on their most popular song.  So when they rocked out to “I’ve Got Friends” it rocked me with some familiar jamming tones.  The lead singer was another bear and it helped establish the pattern of Jack Black like sensitive heavy set fellows in rock.  Manchester Orchestra did a better job of mixing some slow songs with some fast songs.  They definitely earned the top bill of the night.

All in all it was a great time and worth the 20 bucks per ticket spent.  I would’ve dropped the same if it was just White Denim and they had two hours to play.  The sound issues at Stubb’s harshed my buzz a bit but it didn’t ruin anything.  If you find yourself at Stubb’s at some point, be sure to grab some food.  I can’t wait until White Denim comes back around these parts.  The next Manchester Orchestra does I may go see them again.   I just hope they don’t bring as many bears next time.