Blonde Redhead (Bimbo's, 16 November 2004)

Beer Rating: 5 Beers

Blonde Redhead. I used to call them Blonde Shitehead. Here's why.

Back in the dark ages of 1996, I saw them for the first time at the Che Cafe in fabulous U.C. San Diego. The university radio station was excited to have them at their venue, and they were pretty demanding people wanting a fruit basket, assorted beers, veggies, and spending cash. And this is before they were pitched by the Gap people to appear in their commercial. Anyways, I thought that the show was absolute crap. I hated their music, and I hated everything they did. I was so pissed at this show that I went inside my car and popped in my Marion tape. They must have been really crap because who the fuck would listen to Marion? A Marion tape nonetheless! In a crap stereo system with one speaker blown? Yeah, that was a fucked up night with a fucked up band.

It's amazing what 8 years can make. After much resistance, I finally bought (mind you, I bought this album!) Misery is a Butterfly on iTunes after hearing it. I also bought Melodie Citrionique and thought that was a great EP. I thought this band has matured a lot since their "Love Machine" days, with songs that actually have structure and good lyrics rather than arcane noise. So, I decided to buy a ticket to this show and give them another shot. I even stopped calling them Blonde Shitehead just because I thought I was over their previous noise.

Well, I was excited to go to this show, as well as my other friends. I walked right in while Helio Sequence was playing. They were actually pretty good. So good that I bought their album Love and Dance today. They were a two piece but their sound seemed like they were a 5 piece band. There's something to be said about distorted sounds in guitars. I wish I can describe them more, but I only heard two songs. But I like what I hear. Even Randy commented that their first song really caught his attention. So, it must be good.

Then Blonde Redhead came on. A majority of their set list consisted of tracks from Misery is a Butterfly with a handful of other songs from past albums. The band looked good, although they seem tired on stage. They are really good musicians, but the stage presence was seriously lacking. Kazu looked great, but she lacked the charisma that she had when I first saw them in San Diego. Yes, I hated the San Diego show, but Kazu at least kept me mildly entertained. Her boyfriend, Amedeo, also was a great musician, a much stronger voice than I gave him credit for, but also lacked the enthusiasm and the "umph" to be on stage.

That's why this show wasn't that great. All the songs they played are awesome on their records. "Equus" and "Magic Mountain" are great, but it just didn't grab me while watching them at the show. I can't really pinpoint why this show was lacking. There was definitely something missing in their performance. Randy and I were trying to figure it out, but we couldn't. We were so bored throughout most of the show that we decided to go back and chat, in the hope of regaining our energy to go watch them again.

It might also be all the 7 ft. tall men in front of us. Or not being familiar with their discography. Or it could be my lack of energy. However, all of these are mere tick marks in a long list of factors as to why this show was so disappointing.

They ended their encore with "Magic Mountain." They didn't even play "Love Machine" so that I can at least give the song another chance. The song was fitting, because this show was a roller coaster. They started off strong, climbing up and me wincing with anticipation. Once they hit their peak, they suddenly just became flat. And it remained that way. The show was a long, flat experience, ending with a sudden freefalling "THUD!"

So, I'm going to call them Blonde Shitehead again.