Typhoon at Terminal West, Atlanta, March 17, 2014

Typhoon at Terminal West, March 17, 2014

Now that the tragedy-marred SXSW is over and done with, we can resume March Madness here in the ATL.

Phox is a six-piece indie pop band from Baraboo, Wisconsin. Fronted by alluring singer Monica Martin, they kicked off the second half of March Madness with a fine set at Terminal West.

Actually, that's not completely correct.  The truth of the matter is, I was late getting there last night, having attended to my standing obligation on Monday evenings, and by the time I got there at around 8:45, I had missed the opener, Natural Blond, and Phox was already well into the second set of the night.

I liked what I heard, but I was also a little surprised by how crowded the venue was, given the relatively early (by rock standards) hour and that it was only the headliner's first appearance in Atlanta.  I spent most of Phox's set trying to find a decent vantage point to see the stage in the crowded room without rudely cutting right in front of someone already there.  By the time I finally settled in about five or so rows back from the stage, Phox only had a few songs left to their set, but as I said, I liked what I heard.  I hope they pass this way again when I can make it on time.   

They were good, but the large crowd was really there to see Portland's Typhoon, an 11-piece, folk-rock mini-orchestra fronted by Kyle Morton.

Bragging rights: unlike most people in the audience (this was the band's first appearance in Atlanta), I've seen Typhoon play before, twice in fact, both times at MFNW (RIP).  They performed during 2011 on the festival's showcase stage, the outdoor Pioneer Courthouse Square, and the day before at a KEXP radio broadcast from the Doug Fir Lounge.  Here's a Dude-I-Was-There video from the Doug Fir performance to give you an idea of what they're like: 

Fortunately, they haven't changed much in the 2 1/2 years since that show, and Typhoon brought much the same sound to Terminal West last night. The large audience greeted them enthusiastically, and from the opening Honest Truth to the end of the set, everyone, including your humble narrator, was pumping their fists and bobbing their heads along with the music.  

Typhoon are an 11-piece band, and their tour must be an interesting logistical challenge in its own right. They feature two drummers, a three-piece horn section, two strings, two guitars, bass, and keyboards, and frontman Kyle Morton sings and plays both guitar and keyboards. 

By the time their set started, I managed to work my way up to about the third row, but it was still hard to get good pictures of the band, or any pictures of the entire band at all, as they took up so much stage space, one would need an ultra-wide-angle lens and an empty venue to capture them all. 

So, yes, it was a great set.  Typhoon played triumphantly, the audience was over-the-top receptive, Morton was blown away by how nice Terminal West is to play, and everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives.  The band even snuck in a few stanzas of With A Little Help From My Friends near the end of their set, playing it in their own distinctive style that sounded neither like The Beatles nor Joe Cocker.   

For their encore, the band played a long, extended number, and what can you say about a band that in the course of one song, can evoke comparisons to Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Dirty Projectors, Beirut, Fanfarlo, and Jim James?  This isn't that song, but here's their video for set opener The Honest Truth.