I went and saw The Capes last week at The Independent. I was waiting for some digital pictures to get uploaded but as that looks to be at least 72 hours away I will go ahead and put up my take now and provide pictures later.

The opening act was The Drop. They're from LA and I can't seem to find any internet documentation of their existence. They were surprisingly tight for the first of three bands. The music was pretty bland, like something you might expect to hear on the Alice™ radio stations, but they had a good sound and were actually pretty tight. So it was not unpleasant.

The next band was actually the biggest draw for the evening. They are SF up-and-comers The Love X Nowhere. I have to say I was actually moderately disappointed with them. They do indeed have

A big lush one-sound coming forth from guitars heavy with the sway of chorus and delays, analog synth sounds as though from previous incarnations, and solid grooves

but I really felt like they left me hanging there. They built up the sound, they added in the grooves, and then they were content to leave it at that. It never quite resolved nor did it achieve some kind of conflict. It just hung there in the night sky until they stopped playing. They did have one excellent song [I tried all of the songs they have up for download and while decent, none of them are the "great one" but here's an mp3 for ya] and, again, the whole concert was very easy to listen to and even get lost in but it just didn't quite have the force to distinguish it as something that will really make an impact.

The headliners, our friends The Capes, really do want to be our friends. They are way too dorky looking to really make it in the British scene. I think I would actually describe them much more as Bloc Party meets surf rock. I really got a lot of that Weezer (in a good, Don't Call Me Jonah, way) feeling from their show and the simple yet big bass lines and the very simple keyboard melodies that flesh out a lot of their songs. They have two guitars, a bass, keyboards, and drum. Pinko shoulda gone because he would've loved the bass player's shirt (mystery revealed when I can upload pics). They were a lot of fun and I felt a little embarrassed because the band was rockin' more than the crowd. I really need a crew for these things because I feel contractually obligated to rock out and that does not seem to be the norm for SF indie kids. However, they did a good job and it was a fun show.

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