WireTapMusic (beta) - Your online resource for San Francisco music - The Dodos, Thee Oh Sees @ The Independent 06/19/08

The Dodos, Thee Oh Sees @ The Independent 06/19/08

Tuesday, September 09 2008

THE DODOS
THEE OH SEES
The Independent
June 19th, 2008

Thee Oh Sees

It was the day that the United States government passed a law protecting telephone companies who permitted wiretapping within the United States, for “anti-terrorist” purposes. It was also the day for two of San Francisco’s best bands, Thee Oh Sees and The Dodos, to bare it all at the Independent. Of course, Wiretap Music was there…

It was a sold-out show, and shortly after the opening act about half of the venue poured out into the closest bars on Divisadero for a cheap drink between sets. Then Thee Oh Sees took the stage. I had recently gotten their new album, “The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In,” and quickly fell in love with it. But I was worried that their live show didn’t stand a chance of meeting the sort of expectations that I had in my mind.

Luckily I was wrong. Equipped with two tambourinists, two guitarists, two singers, and a drummer who doesn’t shy away from the toms, Thee Oh Sees created a pounding, bleary-eyed mélange of sound. John Dwyer, formerly of The Coachwhips, fronts the group with his trademark “Why is his guitar up so high like a violin?” style and also provides the grungy, surf rock-laden guitar riffs, random noise, and one half of the always two-part vocal harmonies. Brigid Dawson provides the other half of the vocal harmonies and is a tambourinist extraordinaire as well. There was another anonymous tambourine man, dancing and prancing and being everything he needed to be on stage. And of course there was Petey Dammit on guitar and Mike Shoun on drums, who does a great job of holding it all together, usually using his floor tom like most drummers would use their hi-hat. Not for a second do you wonder, “Where’s the bass?”

The Dodos (photo by Elizabeth Weinberg)

Thee Oh Sees put on a rather full-sounding set and kept my head bobbing. I think they set the bar pretty high for a show where they were cast as a mere supporting act.

Headlining was The Dodos. If for some reason you don’t know who they are, now you do. And by all means I recommend checking out their newest album “Visiter.” Their set kept the energy going with tons more tom-laden beats and catchy pop-friendly melodies. It was by far the most energy I’ve ever seen from an act where everyone is sitting.

By the third song, Meric Long, the group’s front man, broke out the trombone. And for the next song, they introduced us to a third musician, who gave them that little extra creative push with his xylophone, steel barrel, and keys. Even though the new multi-instrumentalist didn’t play in every song, it was nice to have another element to break up the semi-tedious sound of The Dodos’ set, which is more or less flavorful singer/songwriter acoustic rock, set to some up-tempo driving percussion.

One thing that was surprising about this night, being that it was a sold-out show with an all-local lineup, is that there was very little fan interaction, and very little fan participation. Still, it gets two big fat thumbs up in my book.

[Andrew Grasso]

[STREAM] Thee Oh Sees: Various Tracks (MySpace)
[STERAM] The Dodos: "The Ball" (mp3)

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