Free Mondays @ Empty Bottle
March 22nd, 2005Historically, free live music is of dubious value to me. For example, when I worked by DePaul in the loop – different musical performers would put on free shows during lunch. I was pretty excited about this until I heard a few. They damn near spoiled my appetite.
In a more recent situation, I was having a perfectly fine steak (well done of course) at The Ale House when I was assaulted by a performance by "The Piano Man". For those who aren’t in the know, "The Piano Man" is a cover band featuring a gentlemen dressed as Elton John while doing versions of both Elton John’s and Billy Joel’s music. It’s as good as it sounds.
But last night was not one of these situations. The opening band/DJ was Cepia, from the Ghostly International label. He played a great seat of hard-hitting IDM electronica. You can check him out in the iTunes Music Store via the link below.
- Cepia
- Dowry EP
Next up was a great set by Walter Meego. Their peformance combined laptop electronica, live guitars and live vocals. The lead singer had a distinctive voice that sounded like a bit of cross between the lead singer of They Might be Giants, and Jerry Lewis. It’s MUCH better than it sounds. After their set, their A&R kid gave me a free test pressing of their vinyl (score!). Their EP release party is on the 29th at the Empty Bottle with the bands Supersystem, and Thunderbirds Are Now!. It’s not to be missed.
However, something you could have missed and not felt bad about would be the set by Fog – the evening’s headliner. I can’t even begin to describe the many ways in which they sucked so let’s leave it at this: they don’t know how to play musical instruments. It was like the Gong Show, but without Chuck Berris for brevity. If you have to hear it for yourself, you can also check him out at the iTunes Music Store. If you have to listen to something, check out "Ether Teeth". Some folks think that it doesn’t suck.