Thursday:
O Pioneers!!! was a smashing success. We had a great turnout, the basement was packed, and the all the bands were fucking awesome. I look foward to both O Pioneers!!! new album coming out this month (hopefully) and 10-4 Eleanor's new whatever they are recording this month. Seriously go check out 10-4 Eleanor, they have that whole gruff midwestern melodic punk thing that everyone is into (myself included). So I guess that means they're orgcore. They brought a bunch of friends down from Fort Collins, who got the (basement) floor moving during their set. They were sort of on a mini-tour with OP!!!, as they were playing all three Colorado dates (Ft. Collins, Boulder, CO Springs), which is pretty cool for them. Masters of Suspicion played first, and it was one of their best performances yet, although I wish they would bring some new songs to the table.
After 10-4's set, everyone went upstairs as OP!!! began setting up. I was outside for a while talking to people, and as I heard noise drifting upstairs faintly from the basement, I figured the band was just doing sound check. After a couple minutes, I decided to head down to see how set-up was going, only to realize they had started their set already! I only missed a couple songs, but the rest of the set was fucking awesome, as I expected. It was a lot of new material, because of their recently acquired bassist, who hadn't learned all of the songs yet. From what I heard, the new album will destroy (again, as I expected). Eric announced the crowd that Aaron had been a douche all day, and promised a t-shirt and a CD for the first person to punch him in the balls. There was one attempt by 10-4's guitarist, but according to Eric, it "wasn't hard enough." After waiting a few minutes, I made my way to the bathroom, which was behind the band. It was there I saw my opening, and Aaron immediately keeled over in pain. It was hilarious, but I still kinda felt bad. Nobody likes getting punched in the balls. I smoked a bowl with him and and a couple others, and everything was cool. Speaking of which, the band had awesome fucking beer coozies that had "O Pioneers!!!" on one side, and "Drink More Weed" on the other. After OP!!! finished, everyone hung out for a few more hours, chatted, played ukele, got more drunk and high, and all the other usual post-show activities. It seems like house shows at "The Soulquarium/The Soulq/The Sulk" are becoming a regular occurance, and I'm ecstatic to be one of the few places in Boulder that actually has punk bands
Fuck the Fox.
Sunday:
Hot Water Music! Words cannot express how excited I was for this show, as they were one of the bands that broke up before I was able to see them live. I caught the bus down to Denver, and walking out of the bus I ran into two friends, and then walking out of the station I ran into a dude who was at my house for the O Pioneers!!! show, and two of his friends. We took the next bus to The Gothic Theater, which is a bitch and half to get to, especially on Sunday, and this trip was no different than my last attempt to go to a show there (Gogol Bordello, in the middle of December, finally arrived, and the show was sold out). Finally got there about 8, as the opening band, Mustangs and Madras, was playing. I saw them previously, opening for Planes Mistaken for Stars' final show, and my opinion on them hasn't changed. They were kinda boring, but the baritone sax their frontman played was interesting, if anything. Only Thunder came up next, and were much more enjoyable, and had a decent amount of fans in the crowd. It was really hard to hear their full sound, being directly in front of their lead guitarist the whole time, and that's more or less all I heard.
I stayed put, and luckily I was right in front of Chuck Ragan when Hot Water Music took the stage. Everything about their set was amazing. The venue wasn't too packed, there were no douchebags (very key), the song selection was awesome (a lot from No Division and Forever and Counting), and everyone in the band had a big smile on their face the entire time. You could tell they love doing what they do, and I hope this realization on their part will keep them off their hiatus. As much as I love Chuck Ragan's solo work, and enjoy The Draft, they just don't compare to the raw intensity and passion of Hot Water Music. When Jason's bass malfunctioned, right when he was supposed to have a solo (I believe during "Our Own Way", George just kept drumming, and Chuck and Chris joked back and forth, and as I have come to expect, Chris was drunk. Not so much as last time I saw him with The Draft, but noticeably so. When the bass problems were sorted out, they kicked right back into it. I managed to snag the set list and shake Chuck Ragan's hand when they finished, and that was worth more than any t-shirt.
Set:
A Flight and A Crash
Wayfarer
Rooftops
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Trusty Chords
Giver
Paper Thin
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Better Sense
Jack of All Trades
Choked and Separated
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All Heads Down
Moonpies for Misfits
The Sense
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Just Don't Say You Lost It
Swinger
Hard to Know
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Our Own Way
Remedy
Manual
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(Encore)
At the End of A Gun
Alachua
Turnstile
Thank you Hot Water Music, for allowing me to no longer hate the Gothic Theater
oh, and for making awesome music, that too.
