Friday, February 14, 2014

CHAPPO, Royal Teeth and Blondfire – A Concert Review

     Because a friend has a connection with one of the bands, last night we headed to The Chapel in San Francisco. Undeniably, it was time well spent. All three bands positively contributed to an atmosphere of camaraderie in which people who were previously unfamiliar with each other and are from different generations urged each other to dance or otherwise participate. Sure, it’s easy to say that it should be that way at every concert, since the attendees share a common interest. But sometimes it just flows naturally, typically thanks more to the bands than to any other influence.

     We were more familiar with Royal Teeth and Blondfire, than with the headliner - CHAPPPO. Thanks to satellite radio (Channel 36 – “Alt Nation”), we had heard “Come Home” often. The assumption was that the other songs of CHAPPO had the same sound and fit neatly into the same genre. Well, another flawed assumption got kicked to the curb last night. The songs of CHAPPO had enough variety to easily maintain the interest of the attendees throughout the show. During some songs, the vocals seemed to be channeling Mark Foster (lead singer of Foster the People). But at one point, the vocals had more of a connection with Jim Morrison of the Doors. 


     Interestingly, the background vocals played an important role in many of the songs, but seldom included a word from the dictionary (unless terms such as “Ooooo” are in the dictionary).



     “I Don't Neeed the Sun” by CHAPPO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chappomusic
Website: http://www.chappomusic.com/main/


      Royal Teeth appeared prior to CHAPPO. The performance was solid in every aspect. And they “nailed” the performance of “Wild.” This is a New Orleans band that features percussion and a combination of female vocals (Nora Patterson) and male vocals (Gary Larsen).



     “For Keeps" by Royal Teeth

     Blondfire hit the stage first. Typical of the San Francisco concert scene, the majority of people don’t show for the start of the first band. However, The Chapel became increasingly populated with each song. San Franciscans enjoy spreading the word that the people of Los Angeles miss the start and finish of baseball games. But this was a situation of the Los Angeles folks (Blondfire) showing up on time, and the San Franciscans missing the quality entertainment.
      "Waves" by Blondfire

      "Where the Kids Are" by Blondfire  (this song has the feel of a collaboration of Blondfire vocals and MGMT instrumentation - but we've seen both bands and prefer Blondfire).

No comments:

Post a Comment