A Gravy Train!!!! show without underwear- swapping is unfortunate. But a Gravy Train!!!! show without glowing nuclear energy is tragic.
This Bay Area almost-band is all about the shared energy – and undergarments – between it and the crowd, but even though the all-ages group at the Hi-Dive on Tuesday was showing love, Gravy Train!!!! MC Chunx was flatlining.
“This is my most tired show ever,” Chunx said before launching into the excellent, female-fronted synth-bomp of “(Breasts) Bounce.” But even that song, in all of its busty glory, was lackluster.
After a short set, the four Trainers retired, while the audience called wildly – and in vain – for an encore. And although the crowd got mooned more than the audience at last week’s Eminem concert – which is saying something – the sun has perhaps set on the band’s kitschy live novelty.
– Ricardo Baca
Red Orange Yellow
Ask anyone Denver’s most likely breakout band for 2006 and most likely you’ll be told the irresistible young waif punks Atlas (though the name must be changed by then for copyright reasons). But if Saturday’s ridiculously fun time at the Hi-Dive was any indication, Atlas’ greatest competition may be itself.
The Atlas side project Red Orange Yellow, consisting of singer Alan Andrews, drummer Devon Shirley and “my two best friends” on synth, Shirley said, performed at a ribald Denver Kickball Coalition benefit for abused kids with Laylights and Machine Gun Blues. Now, these four skinny lads combined couldn’t add up to the body weight of one decent bouncer, but musically speaking, ROY flashed plenty of muscle in setting Atlas’ intense signature sonic madness to an infectious dance-club groove. The highlight? Would you believe a Moog-like waltz?
“Right now every cent we make as Atlas goes to our label,” said Shirley, whose band was recently signed to Morning After Records. “ROY pays for our gas and our cellphones.”
– John Moore
Phil Lesh and Friends
Deadheads were already riding high last weekend after word circulated through “the family” that bassist Phil Lesh and Ryan Adams, the alt-country hero touring with him this summer, dropped into Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey for an impromptu game of pool and a short live set.
Only a few dozen caught the surprise jam, prompted by a power outage at the Fillmore Auditorium during practice. But fans gleefully talked up the event in the crowd Saturday before the Phil Lesh and Friends show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, where Lesh and Adams were joined by Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe, Rob Barraco and Barry Sless.
Spacey jams with gurgling keyboards and blipping guitars launched each of the two sets. The wiry, wild-haired Adams proved himself a master of the material while crooning a country-tinged “Cold Rain & Snow.” “Easy Plateau” was punctuated by dancing primary colors on the stage. Other first-set faves included a tempered take on “Friend of the Devil,” a bluesy “Bertha” and a countrified “Candyman.”
After an especially colorful set break when the lights came up and tipsy tie-dye devotees scampered like ants to the bars and bathrooms, set two included several more crowd-pleasing jams, including two takes on “Dark Star” alongside “Terrapin Station” and “China Cat Sunflower.” Old-school Deadheads may have been underwhelmed by the pedestrian song picks, but with so many in the crowd who missed out on the chance to see Jerry Garcia-era Dead shows, these warhorses were accepted as a musical gift.
– Elana Ashanti Jefferson
