YOUNG HUSBAND/ DAVID DONDERO/ DAVID BAZAN @ 93 FEET EAST 04/02/08

YOUNG HUSBAND

I caught a little of Young Husband and what I heard I liked. The venue was practically empty for the duration of his set and I think that this suited his soft, whispery voice and dainty guitar parts. I only saw the last two of his songs and so a full review would be unfair, but from what I heard he has a very simple, honest delivery and rather lovely songs. I'd definitely make sure to watch his entire set if he supports at any gig that I'm at in the future.

http://www.myspace.com/younghusbandmusic

DAVID DONDERO

I was sitting in the bar next door when David Dondero started his set and was willing to remain there until I heard a friend of mine compare his music to 'if Conor Oberst had written the songs but they were being sung by Willy Mason.' On that account I rushed into the other room and was not disappointed. You can see the Oberst influences in his lyrics, although I'd say that they're also influenced by David Bazan himself, especially with his strong mentions of religion. Musically I can also see the Willy Mason influence, the songs have that repetive guitar loop that Mason often has that means that many of his songs struggle to have an obvious chorus, but vocally however, I'd say that he was more like a mixture between Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse and, when he strained his voice to try and force emphasis, Win Butler of Arcade Fire.

From the above paragraph I'd imagine that most of you already have your myspace tabs open and are frantically entering his name into the music search to try and get a listen. The names mentioned are high praise indeed and he was never going to be good enough to deserve these mentions without some negative points. His vocals sometimes, especially on the less emotive songs, touched on a monotone which really did dull the senses, especially with the lack of an expansive guitar riff. This meant that for every great song there was a mediocre one.

I think that without the hooks or choruses or stand-out vocals or guitar parts, David Dondero is always going to remain a slightly acquired taste. Some people will like his country-tinged acoustic music that sounds as though, especially when introducing the songs while strumming the guitar, that he should be playing in the corner of some Louisiana spit and sawdust bar while people sit at the tables alone and starring into their drinks; others will find it boring. I thought that he was good, but I think that he made a perfect support act for David Bazan.

http://www.myspace.com/davedondero

DAVID BAZAN

I will open with a confession: I was never really a fan of Pedro The Lion and could only listen to Headphones every now and again. I had spent the weekend listening to Achilles' Heel constantly on my mp3 player in an attempt to grow fonder of them. I downloaded a Dave Bazan live performance and listened to that too. I listened to the Headphones album for the first few times in ages. I had a feeling that with all this listening I'd be a fan by the time of the gig and it worked to an extent. But seeing David Bazan live changed everything. When I was travelling home the first album that I put on was the David Bazan live set.

Due to my lack of knowledge of Pedro The Lion I sadly cannot enlighten people as to which songs he played of theirs. I do know that he played Bands With Managers thought and it was incredible. He managed to perform all of his songs on an electric guitar which, when played as a solo act, I normally have issues with, and yet not once did the sound seem to lack character. Standing with someone who was a complete unknown to David Bazan and all of his bands before the gig, she remarked to me quite how depressing his lyrics are, and she was right of course. But there was a warmth and sincerity in his delivery that managed to make what should have been quite a cold sentiment quite uplifting. Including questions and answer sessions throughout the set was something that I'd never seen before and a great way for fans to get answers to questions that they long for, and Bazan only tends to have diehard fans.

Since Monday I have listened to Headphones a lot. I haven't listened to Pedro The Lion but I feel far more compelled to than I ever have before. The gig for me hinged a lot on what Headphones song he decided to play. I knew that he often played Hot Girls and would have been happy for that, but when he started playing Shit Talker I was trembling with excitement. I remarked afterwards that the inclusion of that song wrote my review for me and in some ways it did; the set just seemed 'right' from the very start to his cover of Hallelujah to end (the best cover I've ever heard of the song and if ever there was a Pedro The Lion song that David didn't write, that song is it). I am now a fan of anything and everything that David Bazan has been involved with.

http://www.myspace.com/davidbazan