Last night at the Bell House was one of the most exciting musical nights I’ve ever experienced. Headlining the three act bill was HOTTUB from Oakland, including some friends of mine that I see too rarely. The three-lady MC team put on a ripper of a show and work the crowd into a lathered frenzy of sweat while cooling them off with beer showers… One of the girls, who made no bones about her hefty 150 lbs, coaxed me into hoisting her on my shoulders and parading her around the crowd while she bucked and rapped with no fear of the head trauma that lurked one banana peel away… I am definitely feeling the aftermath of that back compression today but would offer my shoulders anytime for HOTTUB!
They were the cake I knew I’d be eating, but the two bands and DJ before turned out to be pretty sweet icing. Both from Toronto, the groups performed in unique ways that I had never seen before. Keys n Krates was a drummer, keyboardist and DJ and they effectively supplemented and remixed some great dance tracks by Daft Punk, Justice, MGMT et al. With some great live drumming and keyboard lines. A solo DJ will never seem like enough again.
Woodhands is a synth/drums duo that has a great rapport and command of some awesome vintage electronic equipment which is looped to create a truly unique sound and performance style.
The house DJ was my buddy Bill, who not only plays some great tunes, but designed and built an amazing software/hardware interface called Itch, which seems clearly destined to change the DJs performance techniques forever…
All too often when I go out to see a show, it blends with the common tones of indie rock that rules this city; it is refreshing to hear new sounds invade the monotony and I hope that this foreign exposure expands the musical horizons of local culture.