Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Noise Pop: Rogue Wave & Company Rock Bottom of the Hill


For my first night of the 2010 Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco I made my way to the venue Bottom of the Hill to see one of my favorite bands Rogue Wave as they played to a full house with supporting acts Princeton, Man/Miracle and Two Sheds.


The night began with Two Sheds who are a wonderful husband and wife duo from Sacramento who have partnered up with Rusty Miller and James Finch Jr. to form a band that is best described as Bluesy Americana.


After Two Sheds it was time for the Bay Area’s very own Man/Miracle that is made up of four members that play music that is best described as rock with a pop sensibility. The bands first full-length album The Shape Of Things brought the band some big buzz and comparisons to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Rogue Wave. If you decide to seek out some of their music, which I think you should, I highly recommend the tracks “Dayglo” and “Back of the Card.”


Following Man/Miracle was Los Angeles Natives Princeton, and this indie pop group have made a name for themselves for having a very tight live show, which I agree with. Their show at Bottom of the Hill was well rehearsed and had zero lag time in between songs. Definitely a great band to keep an eye out for and after having a conversation with the boys from LA, I even snagged a free copy of their album Cocoon of Love on vinyl and I can’t wait to give it a spin.



Now, I don’t mean any offense to the three bands that played before Rogue Wave, but the night truly belonged to the band from San Francisco. Rogue Wave is one of my favorite bands and their second album Descended by Vultures, which was released in 2005, still stands as one of my favorites of this decade. So when Zach and the boys took to the stage, I was praying to hear songs from that album. I was not disappointed in the least. Though most of the songs in their set came from their latest album Permalight, they still made time to play such songs as “Publish My Love” and “Bird on a Wire.” Also, for those that were able to get inside the packed venue, we were treated to something very special when John Vanderslice came on stage to close the show with Rogue Wave.


My first night of Noise Pop was an absolute dream come true. There are not many times when I am able to see one of my favorite bands play live in a venue that holds only 300 people and have them play some of my favorite songs of the last decade.

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