The Love Lights, Boat, So Adult, Ron Hexagon – August 6 – Rogue Hero
Meeting the man behind the moniker of Ron Hexagon before the show did in no way prepare me for what lay ahead. The Los Angeles artist took a seat on stage when the crowd was still sparse and started singing a Carpenters song. The crowd shuffled closer slowly, within moments we were hooked. He entertained us with a smattering of songs that were as original and entertaining to hear as his seated dance moves were to watch. Armed with nothing but a lap keyboard and a set of crafty tunes, his show cannot be described any better than it is on his myspace page…. “Sounds like: a very short ping pong match.”
I didn’t have long to lament before Bellingham’s So Adult took the stage bringing their infectious postpunkpowerpop (with a small side of shyness) to our ears. If these guys are in their freshman year then I can barely wait for their sophmore-senior years.
Next to hit the stage was Seattle’s own BOAT. It was great to see former Racetrack and Lands Farther East members on stage playing with this new band. BOAT played a bit from each of their previous two full length albums as well as some new tunes which will be featured on their October release Setting the Pace. I was expecting some super summery pop and what I got was some LOUD super summery pop. Catchy tunes, clever lyrics and supreme pop sensibility all added up to a set made in heaven.
It has been over a year since I have seen The Love Lights play and although I only caught the first half of their set, it sounded a tad different from what I was accustomed to. Mind you, that is not a complaint, they are definitely crowd pleasers with a following.
The entire night was chock full of music that had fingers snapping, feet moving and faces smiling. What better way to spend a summer night?
