Wednesday, February 11, 2004 So last night, I saw Starsailor play a set at Amoeba Records, and while it wasn't quite the musical revelation I've been waiting for, it did make me extremely happy. The best part is that I think I'm getting their new CD as part of my KCRW pledge package (I pledged money to public radio -- god, I'm a grown-up) -- a completely random selection on my part, and hopefully well-rewarded. If you don't know them, they've got a tweee little music player up in the top righthand corner of their website-- my favorite track is predictably "Four to the Floor", but others have their appeal. But it was awesome, standing in the Rock Vinyl E-F section ("This is great," joked my friend, "But it must suck to be the guy who just wanted a copy of Frampton Comes Alive"), watching these goofy British guys play guitars and drums. From twenty feet away, I was able to see the concentration the lead guitarist put into his fingering, able to see them smile at each other as they moved from riff to riff -- able to see them loving the music they played. I always forget how amazing live rock music can be, mainly because I don't go to shows very often. George Sarah's show last week was interesting -- a string quintet, coupled with Sarah playing around with computers to engineer the exact sound he's looking for -- but it didn't have the energy of a live performance. We sat in an auditorium, leaning back in our comfy chairs, watching the video art playing above the performers. A feast for eyes and ears... ...but not quite as entertaining as four sleepy-eyed British gentlemen in vintage tees and jeans. Sadly, Starsailor appears to be the ONLY band-with-a-name-starting-with-S-which-Liz-gets-mixed-up-all-the-time not playing at Coachella (damn you, Sparta/Stereolab/stellastarr*/Sidestepper!). I'll miss them. They were very good indeed. | permalink blog • archives • photos • about • contact This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. All content © 2004.