Friday, January 18, 2008

Show Review: The Midwinters, The Exfriends, and Mayweather @ Belly Up, 1/10/2008

Photos: The Midwinters, The Exfriends, and Mayweather

Last Thursday night, I arrived at the Belly Up a little late, on account of taking this photo and then stopping at the sushi place next to Pizza Port for dinner. As such, I only got to hear two or three songs by Mayweather. I was kind of okay with that, as their sound is rather North County-esque, and not really my cup of tea. Nothing against the boys in the band, I just wasn't feeling it.


But next up was a band that I knew I would enjoy, having (finally) caught them at the Whistlestop at some point in December. The Exfriends play a twang-inspired brand of twee that probably would have gone over a little better somewhere further south. Not that people weren't digging it, but there was a noticable decline in the amount of bodies on the dance floor during their set. It's a shame, but it didn't hamper my enjoyment one bit. They sounded great, although maybe a little less full than the last time I saw them, with Ray Suen in attendance and playing multiple instruments.

The Ex-Friends @ Belly Up, 01/10/2008
The Exfriends @ Belly Up, shot by Natalie Kardos

The Ex-Friends @ Belly Up, 01/10/2008
The Exfriends @ Belly Up, shot by Natalie Kardos

The final band in the all-local lineup was The Midwinters. Matt (the bassist) has been politely nudging me to check them out for a little while, and they finally played a show that I could make it to. I enjoyed their set, especially the latter half, which featured some newer songs. Some of those songs were written and sung by their pianist, which lent them a little bit of that Ben Folds sound that I am especially partial to. Overall, they seemed pretty solid, although I got the impression that they were still focusing their sound a little bit. I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

2 comments:

  1. I didnt know what we had North County-esque music up here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It might just be me, but it seems as though the crowds at the Belly Up generally go for the jammier sorts of bands. That's what I was referring to.

    ReplyDelete