I could rattle off a list of puns for last night’s Birdmonster/Birdlips doubleheader at Gravity Lounge, although I think the best I’ve come up with so far is "birds of a feather rock together"—anyone?—but as Birdlips singer Cliff Usher reminded the small crowd with a huge grin, "It’s not a joke!"
Last night was one of those concerts that was difficult to commit to—the debates were on [Jen Sorensen weighs in here; you should do the same], and I knew I had to drive to Richmond tonight. So when Birdlips wrapped up their set, I tried to leave.
Yes, "tried." Thing is, the doorman urged me back into the room.
"Ten minutes," he said. "Two songs," he said. So be it.
Four songs and 20 minutes later, I left, but completely rejuvenated; Birdmonster’s headlining set was a thing of sharp, pop-rock beauty. We’re talking crisp like iceburg lettuce, rockier than Sly Stallone, like seeing The Pernice Brothers at Tokyo Rose, or Portastatic at Satellite Ballroom in October, 2006.
I said "sharp," didn’t I? The fellows in Birdmonster gave a slim Gravity Lounge crowd an oversized, ripping set.
The thing about each of these shows is that, for the quality of the music, they seemed criminally underattended—maybe not be the time that I arrived, but certainly by the time I left. Portastatic’s Mac McCaughan—a founder of Merge Records and Superchunk, that go-getter—wrote of the Satellite gig: "Thirteen people in a room that holds 500 isn’t really a recipe for a barnburner of a rock show, but as the old Jim Wilbur rallying cry goes, ‘you play the show not the crowd.’" (McCaughan’s full account, including the post-show trip to Baja Bean for karaoke, is here.)
And, for a mix of reasons, that Portastatic gig remains one of my favorite: McCaughan opened the show with a solo version of "A Pair of Brown Eyes," which introduced me to The Pogues in a very roundabout way, the songs from Be Still Please are gorgeous, and I spent the evening gabbing and cheering with C-VILLE’s own Dan Catalano, whose take on the show was his last live review as a local.
So, in the words of Rob Gordon, I’m feeling kinda basic today: What’s your desert island, favorite underattended Charlottesville concert? Sing for the unsung heroes, people; I want to hear about the gigs I’ve missed.