Pinehurst Kids, Bugs In Amber, Fairgrove
Live at the Crocodile Cafe
March 23, 2000

Live Review by Grace Dangerpugg

There's still magic in the night, kids. To be more accurate, I should say that there's still magic in weeknights at the Crocodile. On Thursday, March 23, Pinehurst Kids, Bugs in Amber, and Fairgrove lined up on stage to celebrate the release of Bugs in Amber's debut CD, Rocketship Letters, and the result was a solid night's rocking which explored three new and varying directions in Northwest music.

Fairgrove kicked off the evening. Fairgrove's post-rock oeuvre is a bracing mix of rough and delicate, loud and soft, harsh and sweet. Keyboards intertwine with guitar in a layered, song-driven mix that is often melodic and always effectively dissonant. Bold bass and innovative drumming give the combination a solid rhythmic spine at times and a tense metric counterpoint at others.

Led by their anmimated keyboardist-singer, Jay Wesley Harrison, Fairgrove pounded out a strong performance of new material whose titles elude me and less-new material, such as "Pigs Blood Blue" and "Nantucket Sleighride" from their soon to be released ep. Clad in a bright orange t-shirt which proclaimed him "Super Dad," Harrison bounded above, below, and around his keyboards, as he sang. His exuberance brought to mind Franz Liszt, if the classical pianist had been possessed by the disembodied spirit of Jerry Lee Lewis.

Next up was Bugs in Amber. A fine young beat combo and a sweet bunch of kids, this seven person band plays a lush, atmospheric pop. The standard guitar, bass, drums lineup is augmented by another guitarist, a keyboardist, a flautist, and a violinist.

While Bugs in Amber singer Sonny Votolato was far from expressionless as he led the band through spirited versions of Rocketship Letters' best tracks, such as "I Need a Beverage" and "Friend or Foe," his spotlight was nonetheless stolen by BIA's statuesque violinist, Seth Warren. Flamboyantly working his fiddle for every possible note, Warren came off as orch-pop's answer to Niccolo Paganini. Romancing the crowd with the mystique of the violin, Warren drove one member of the crowd into such a lusty froth they were moved to yell out, "Seth is a sex-kitten." In response, BIA keyboardist, Dave E. Martin quipped, "Shit, I got dibs on that ass."

Enter Pinehurst Kids. This Portland trio launched a six week tour with their Crocodile appearance. Playing a "fiery emo pop" (according to the Rocket) that might have once been called garage rock, and later would have been called punk rock, and later still, alternative rock, this precision-tuned rocking machine was hitting on all cylinders. Led by lead singer Joe Davis-- the Enrico Caruso of Portland's post-punk scene-- the PKs lit up the night with a shimmering set drawn from the songs on their new disc, Viewmaster, including the title track, "Burn Alone" and "Pretty Whistle."

This show didn't change the world, but it was a solid evening of great music by three up and coming bands, and you can't complain about that.

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