On Saturday I went to Glasslands to see NY Howl, Wild Yaks, & K-Holes. I was mostly interested in catching Wild Yaks. I've been listening to them a lot lately and I was looking forward to finally seeing them live.
According to the Glasslands website the show started at 9PM. Of course the info was wrong but luckily I double checked the flyer to make sure on my way over and realized it actually started at 10PM. So we decided to stop into the Levee for a drink before the show. After imbibing in a Sportsman and a fruity drink for the lady we headed over to the show.
NY Howl were about to go on when we got there. I was surprised they were playing so early because they usually get pretty crazy. Despite the tiny group of people there at that point they went on. We were upstairs in the balcony watching. I've seen the Howl at least 3 times before and this is not the same band. It's a stripped down (they're a three piece now, no brass) version of the band. I never noticed the obvious White Stripe thing they have going on - I think the horns covered that up. Either way they're still awesome and put on a good show, as always, despite a minor guitar malfunction.
Next up was Wild Yaks, again I don't get why they played second. As with the Howl, it was still early and people were just starting to trickle in. Like I said I was pretty excited to finally see these guys. Based on the show I have nothing bad to say about them.
They were a bigger band then I thought - two guitars, sax, bass and drums. I was expecting a 3-piece and was surprised by how crowded the stage was. The guitar player was awesome and managed to work in some shredding at interesting points. I loved the group vocals - everyone sang and I think more bands should consider this because it sounds awesome. The highlights were of course when they closed the set with "River May Come" and "Tomahawk," both instant classics which had everyone shouting along and dancing.
I was about to leave after Wild Yaks and then ran into Jeremy J (he DJ'd the last Ski Club party) so I stuck around for a bit. I'm glad I did because The Beets came on next. I had no idea who these kids were but I was digging it. There was definite Black Lips thing going on but it felt more NYC. I wish I had heard some stuff of theirs before hand so I could get into it a little more. They were good fun and luckily had a nice crowd to play to at this point in the night. They were a perfect lead in to K-Holes, who actually feature an ex Black Lip.
Being a big Black Lips fan I was looking forward to K-Holes. I've heard good things from friends but I wasn't sure what to expect because the recordings they have online are not so great. I have to say they were not what I expected. Sure there was a bit of a Black Lips thing but they definitely have their own sound. I'd compare them more to the Cramps or B-52s then Black Lips. You can call it what you will but they were pretty fucking awesome. Oh, and the chick on bass has a Debbie Harry thing going on which is pretty damn adorable.
Some of the kids started showing up right after K-Holes but my old ass wanted to go home and relax. So I said my farewells and went home completely satisfied, seven bucks well spent.
