3.1 Maps & Atlases

After playing a Dance Party show for a bunch of sorority girls I grabbed Tom Chalupa and we headed off to the Middle East for a show that I was looking forward to going with him to for a while now. It had been a while since i'd gone to a show at the Middle East that I wasn't playing and this was quite the show to see. The only band I had heard before the show was Maps & Atlases but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed all of the bands!

So Many Dynamos opened the show with a blaze of technical guitars mixed with a good blend of synthesizer and just the right amount of dance beats. Something you've heard before right? Wrong! The one thing that I can say about both opening bands was that they were both very hard to describe, which is something that I find myself usually enjoying because that means that it is origional! The guitars bordered on noisy rock with some definite Johnny Greenwood flair to them. The synths were tight and lots of awesome vocals. They most certainly had me dancing from the moment I stepped into the club.

Pattern Is Movement was next, two bearded men playing drums and rhodes piano. Vocals bordered on operatic and they had a good sense of humor but there was nothing funny about this performance. It was marvelous how the intensity of the drums blended with the vocals and keyboards so perfectly. I found myself in a trance during some point during this set and it was a beautiful feeling. One thing that they really worked well into their set was dynamics and that was something that really set them out from the other bands. Nick bought the vinyl and we listened to it right after the show as i shaved my beard into a mustache, anyways awesome band!

Maps & Atlases were next, playing all the songs that I wanted to hear and then some new ones which were very awesome and I very much look forward to hearing the studio versions. I was glad to hear a couple new ones seeing that they only played one last time I saw them. It was especially awesome rocking out with Tom at this show because he is one of the only people that knows this music in and out like I do. I found myself in an amazing groove during this show  and it was awesome to just dance and sing along at one of their shows because i've seen them a couple times now and I can actually pick my jaw up off of the floor for once. Afterwards after I build the courage, I went to the guitarists and talked to them for a few minutes and they were very very cool people. I gave them one of my CDs telling them that we are nothing like you guys but we are playing with Laura Stevenson and love the RX Bandits and they thought that that was awesome. They were incredibly humble guys and were very appreciative that I was such a big support of their band. Afterwards I ran around outside in the snow for a while giggling to myself because I was so happy that they were cool guys and they appreciated me giving them a CD. What a great start to March!