I had heard for years that Local H were one of those bands that just brought a ferocious live show, so when the opportunity came to see them for only ten bucks, I had the inevitable reaction of "Sure, why not?" It's not like we had something better to do in ol' Salem Towne. And hey, who doesn't love "Bound For The Floor"?
We had two opening bands that night, with one a promising new local band, and the other being a serviceable, well, opening act. I'll be keeping my eye out for Sharpening Markers, who had a great mix of punk energy and dissonant rock chords, with the vocal stylings reminiscent of Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat (though for one song it shifted to Hutch Harris of The Thermals, and if you're reading this Sharpening Markers, keep doing this--it works well). My only complaint was the total lack of showmanship from the guitars--put some life into your performance, guys! As for The Photo Atlas, they had some of the better qualities of the indie/screamo movement, but they were noteworthy for the band members resemblance to people we know--the rhythm section looked like two goofballs we knew from high school, the singer like Trent Reznor's kid, and what was clearly Judd Apatow handling the guitar. We loved The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Judd!
Local H lived up to all expectations, as the two-man wrecking crew knocked through a blistering set, mixing in with the old and new. I myself was most intrigued to see how Scott Lucas's super guitar/bass combo actually worked--I had my doubts to the AllMusic story that he had installed a bass pickup in his guitar, but lo and behold, something on the internet was true. The group effectively mixed the old and new, showcasing cuts from the new album that fit in effortlessly with older classics, such as "California Songs", which brought the house down mid-show.
Perhaps the highlight of the show was the monologues from Scott. Sure, there were only a couple, but they were instantly memorable. As Scott's liquor began to take hold, he began to take issue with some audience member's idiotic requests:
"So you think you're old school, huh? You're about as old school as Will Ferrell?"
"Who the fuck do you think I am, Ian Mackaye?"
"If you keep this up, we'll just play M. Ward songs all night."
"Not even the good M. Ward songs, the ones with Zooey Deschanellanksd [unintelligible rambling]. Just the shitty ones."
Scott gets bonus points for the local reference, as M. Ward is a prominent fixture of the Portland music scene. As the drinks kept flowing (Scott: "It's her birthday, so I'm taking a shot!"), we heard the tale of a ruckus a few days ago in California.
"So I nearly got in a fight down in California a couple of days ago. Some guy had a problem with me, and as he gets more into it, asks me, "Do you know who I am?!?"
"I'm Dex!!!"
As for the music itself, well, the ending was spectacular. "Bound for the Floor" of course led to a massive audience response, but the mid-song shift into Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" was genius, even if it left 99% of the audience clueless. It wasn't wholly out of character--they covered the song on their No Fun EP--but I ate it up, singing the missing horn parts in Joe Reefer's ear (thank you, pep band!). And wasting no time, Scott began a blistering cover of "Wolf Like Me" to close the set, proving what I had mentioned to Joe earlier that very afternoon: "I can tell you this at least: Wolf Like Me fucking rocks".
