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Local Bands Shine on Lake Street |
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Written by HILARY LINNEWEH / Photos by BARRY BRECHEISEN
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Friday, 12 March 2010 |
So far it seems to be over shadowed by the many long standing Chicago venues, yet it was a nice to venture down to the Bottom Lounge and hear solid efforts from local Chicago bands on Lake Street. One of the openers, Hudson Branch, a group of fresh faced gentlemen, had arrangements with surprising depth for newcomers to the music scene. Although the lead singer looked barely legal, if that, their enthusiasm and the obvious effort put into each pop-alternative arrangement was appreciated.
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Elephant Gun and The Hudson Branch
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Bottom Lounge
Chicago, IL
March 25, 2010
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Soon after Elephant Gun took to the stage and played to a very young and rowdy crowd. The local band plunged head first and full throttle into their set, with songs Pere Marquette and Wolf, in a fast-pace hour long set. The volume and pace of the music started at one hundred and remained there all evening long. This past September, the group released Beartime Stories and most songs they performed were from this album. Their show is a raucous, loud, and an evening of clanging sounds. The group is composed of eight members, who play the usual suspect of instruments, but also a xylophone, trumpet, sax, violin and enough tambourine to cause ringing in your ears after the concert was over.
The songs are long jam sessions that are slightly reminiscent of Hungarian gypsy music sounds and rhythms. At times, at least performed live, many of the songs didn’t seem to contain a whole lot of singing. There seems to be a bit more shouting than anything, but what the group lacked in pitch perfect vocal tones, they made up for it in showmanship while kneeling to the ground to sing strained vocals. The crowd really seemed to enjoy the trumpet heavy songs like Hot Shots and then they transitioned into Hitch, probably the slowest and most mellow song of the evening. One change in tone in the evening was the song Wounded Bears, that had slight meandering country feel. Elephant Gun wound down the evening with Waltz 2, a long dizzying song that made one imagine a Russian bear dancing in front of his trainer, after all, they did name their album Beartime Stories.
Overall, the group gave a strong performance with great fiddle playing by band member Katie Bendorf. Although there were tight instrumentals, many of the songs seem to run in to one another because they are a bit too similar in sound and cadence. The group ended with Blacktar Country, a bit slow for the closing song but the crowd was pleased with the performance and overall it was a fun evening of local music.
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