| swearing at motorists |
BANDLIVESTUDIOWEBSTORE |
september 04, 2002 - denver, co - lion's lair
from sponic
Sponic co-editor John Wenzel checked out the triple threat at Denver, Colorado's most colorful dive, The Lion's Lair.
If you're ever traveling down Colfax Avenue, Denver's seedy main drag, and you happen to be around the 2000 block, check out the Lion's Lair. The enormous, faded, carnival-esque facade is impossible to miss. Covered in lights, only half of which work, the facade presents the face of a cartoon lion with an odd '70s-color-scheme background of blue and yellow. The mock grandeur of the sign falsely represents the size of the bar within, which is tiny, and laid out to accomodate anything but a rock show: the stage faces the bar, and behind the bar is where most of the people stand. I'd never been to the Lion's Lair, but had driven by it many times. When I heard that Swearing at Motorists would be stopping by there, I couldn't resist the chance to check it out.
Traveling with the Motorists on this early fall evening (Sept. 4, to be exact) was their labelmate on Bloomington, Indiana-based Secretly Canadian Records, Scout Niblett. A diminutive Brit switching between electric guitar and drums, Scout entranced the tiny audience with her powerful, moving voice. Her dark songs of loss and confusion brought me out of my Rock Shell for once, allowing me to appreciate a style of music I would not normally listen to. I sensed that the a lot of the audience wasn't sure what to make of her, and I didn't blame them. Scout was as hypnotic as she was unnerving. Imagine Cat Power with more confidence, or less pretension. Dressed like a kicked-aside rag doll, Scout exuded a confident, coiled vibe.
Next up was Jason Traeger, a "performance artist" on K Records. His odd, awkward comedy songs, jokes, and pseudo-political/pseudo-spiritual calls to action seemed out of place after Scout Niblett's grave set. Luckily, he wasn't onstage for long.
Swearing at Motorists wasted no time plugging in, tuning, and ripping the audience a new asshole. They've always been one of my favorite bands, and it had been years since I'd last seen them play. Being from the same hometown, I've watched them develop over the years, changing drummers, becoming more intense in some areas and less in others, refining their lean sensibilities. They've always been a bass-less duo (with a few exceptions), focusing on muted or distorted drop-D guitar riffs, plaintive melodic vocals, and expressive drumming. Imagine a stoned Neil Young, or Doug Martsch with more soul. Some (including myself) would say that singer/guitarist Dave Doughman prefigured the garage rock/two-man-band craze the music world is currently gripped with. Of course, Doughman doesn't do this to be trendy, it's simply the way he feels his music should be presented.
A few audience members were there solely because the Motorists' are somewhat (and increasingly tenuously) related to Guided By Voices. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, and despite never having played in Denver before, the Motorists obviously won over a few new fans that night. Doughman jumped around the stage like a maniac, immediatley infusing the stifled air of the Lion's Lair with electricity and raw emotion. A well-chosen set spanned the Motorists' last few full-lengths, heavily favoring their latest EP and LP on Secretly Canadian. Other highlights included a dead-on version of the a capella song "Goodbye Second and Main (Pink Violence)," their Built to Spill-esque single "I'll Only Sleep," and a cover of Great Plains' "Letter to a Fanzine" (which appeared on a Sponic 7" a few years ago). Confident and at the top of their game, Doughman and drummer Travis Nelson left the crowd reeling and wanting more. If only they'd come through town more often.
-- John Wenzel
for questions or comments contact: webmaster@swearingatmotorists.com