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After a long day that included a nine year old trying to bear me up, hosting a talent show in a downpour and then having to clean up in/after said downpour (leaving me wetter than a man overboard), I was really looking forward to hearing some good music and scoring (by paying for) some food in the process. I was selfishly hoping that the bands would be on stage the minute I walked in the door, wanting to do nothing but entertain me, but that didn't quite happen.
Mustache Ride tried to take the stage at about 10:15, long after I scarfed down some food and read The Phoenix. I thought that they were goofing around for awhile by playing random licks, but it turned out that the PA was broken. The band, after non-vocally playing a riff to some Everclear song that got stuck in my head for hte rest of the night, put their instruments down and waited for a tech guy to arrive. I pondered leaving, but everything was fixed in a half hour and the show was a go.
Due to the delay, Mustache Ride cut their set short. Even though I was engulfed and frustrated in Golden Tee at the time, I really enjoyed their songs. The songs were mid tempo melodic punk with a singer that looked like Fat Mike and sounded like Brendan of The Lawrence Arms. I always enjoy these guys when I see them, though I never go out of my way to check them out for some reason.
I'm not sure if it was the sound mix, but the next band (a name which I have since forgotten, though I would recognize if I saw or heard) sounded really fuzzy and bass heavy. They reminded me a lot of a rock and roll Fugazi, and they had plenty of parts where the music did the talking. There was a very abstract rock feeling to them, nad they had clever chord progressions that were more than easy on the ears, and full of abrupt endings.
Jon Snodgrass played a short set that the modest crowd really enjoyed. He played song after song, not really stopping in between. His voice is as good live as it is on record, if not more so, and he is an amazing singer songwriter, putting the crowd into a trance before he let Two Cow Garage join him onstage (or vice versa).
Two Cow Garage played a few songs with Snodgrass, which were very jam heavy and a lot of fun to listen to. I thought that they were a three piece, but they had a guitarist (not counting Snodgrass who was only a guest to their set), bassist, drummer and keyboard played. I believe the keyboard player was new, but regardless, he added so much to their set. The whole band was rocking out the whole time, causing the majority of the crowd to dance around to the rhythm, and the keyboards were the main reason for that. The songs were instantly recognizable, with some of the crowd (that didn't already know every word) singing along to the choruses right away, joining in on the group vocals, and flat out having a good time. There weren't a ton of people at this show, but they all left with a huge amount of admire and respect for Two Cow Garage.