Electric 6 never played a more apropos version of its anthem “Danger! High Voltage” than at the Larimer Lounge on Saturday. The all-ages, no-sleep slumber party was sweaty and high voltage, thanks to both the music and the steady raindrops dripping dangerously from the ceiling, past power cords and power chords, and onto the heads of bouncing bangers on the jampacked dance floor below.
Dick Valentine opened with the promise, “We’ve got 97 songs to play for you,” and he darn near delivered. Then again, the dapper, hard-driving frontman also tried to convince the crowd his merry band of Motor City mainstays were from Reno, Nev. By the time E6 got grooving with its spaz-rockers “Improper Dancing,” “She’s White” and “Gay Bar,” one dared pass the all-ages liquor line and into the dance area at the risk of one’s hip – because not a hip was going unchecked Saturday.
Valentine claimed Saturday’s set was E6’s first all-ages tour stop. “And you can see why. … It’s because we’re too sad and pathetic for all-ages,” he said. No, E6 is anything but. Late in the set, Valentine called Denver “the home of cultural optimism,” to which one devotee responded, “We love you, Bono!” E6 then finished with an awesome “Dance Commander” and a guitar-ripping version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Stand Back.”
– John Moore
The Strokes
When The Strokes broke in 2001, whenever these silver-spoon hipsters decided to overindulge their rock fantasy, sloppy showmanship was the inevitable result.
Thousands of stages and two more studio albums later, The Strokes proved Sunday at the Fillmore to be a polished, serious act unfettered of rock clichés – except for the movie-star girlfriend. Thank you, Drew Barrymore, for gracing our burg with your adorable down-to-earth glamour.
This time through, The Strokes commanded their instruments better and cared more about their audience than they once did. The band had no problem trotting out road-weary hits “Soma,” “Last Nite” and “Hard to Explain,” plus showcasing great new songs like “Red Light” and “Juicebox.”
“Classic” seems to be what The Strokes are all about these days. Case in point: Nick Valensi’s Robert Plant pirate shirt, the band’s self-effacing yet more-than-capable cover of the Ramones’ standard “Life Is a Gas” and highly orchestrated effects that often set Albert Hammond Jr.’s white-boy ‘fro aglow with radiant light. The Strokes of 2006 are aiming for something more than it-band buzz. If they keep working as hard as they did Sunday night, the battle is won.
– Elana Ashanti Jefferson
The Dirtbombs
Monday’s Dirtbombs show at the Larimer Lounge was a testament to hard driving and good tires. At 12:50 a.m., a couple of vans wheeled up in front of the bar and an assembly line of Lounge workers, musicians and fans carried the band’s back line (including two drum kits) to the stage.
The Dirtbombs, kings of soulful Detroit garage, were harried, to say the least, when they kicked things off a few minutes later. With a snowy Interstate 70 closed, the bands drove way south and out of the way, 14 1/2 hours total, to make the gig, singer Mick Collins said during a truncated soundcheck.
A few songs into the 50-minute set, all peace was restored. Collins is a pro, and while his band was slightly off early on, he was perfectly smooth. He even did the classy thing and jumped off stage for Atlanta’s Black Lips, the band’s tourmates, to rock a two-song miniset before Collins returned and closed the night out, five minutes until the club’s closing.
– Ricardo Baca
