Last night, the mighty San Fermin played The Loft in Atlanta. Last night, Courtney Barnett finally made it to Atlanta. And Rocktober's only getting warmed up.
I didn't get a chance to see opener Mikhael Paskalev. I somehow got roped into meeting some former work colleagues for a few beers about 35 miles outside of Atlanta, and by the time I finally got back inside the Perimeter and to The Loft for last night's show, Courtney Barnett was about to take the stage.
I've been waiting for almost
a year now, but this was my first time seeing Barnett perform and was certainly expecting a loud, electric set of garage-rock anthems, but the band's sound last night was much more muscular and aggressive than her records or videos suggest, perhaps in part because of an apparent change in lead guitarist, and they now thrash more than they used to just noodle around.
There's an interesting balance in excelling at garage rock: if you play too poorly, you don't sound any different than any other band in any other bar in any other city, but if you play too well, it's not garage rock any more. Part of the brilliance of Barnett's band was they've found that perfect, Goldilocks sweet spot between too slack and too tight.
On another note, I was surprised to see that Barnett was opening for San Fermin and not the other way around. Both bands are great, although very, very different, and although I've seen more internet buzz about Courtney Barnett than I have about Sen Fermin, last night was nonetheless San Fermin's first headlining performance in Atlanta,
And, man, did they ever knock it out of the park. With two horns (baritone sax and a very extroverted trumpet), two singers, a violinist, keys, bass, and, of course, drums, they were able to project to the very back of the intimate Loft space (but fortunately for me, I was at the very front, and could hear every and see everything).
We first saw San Fermin at
Shaky Knees (above) where they just about stole the entire show, but missed them this year during Day Two of
Bumbershoot (below, which reminds me - I need to post my Day Two retrospective sometime soon), partly because some sadist in the scheduling department put them on at the same time as Pickwick, the best band you've never heard of, and partly because I already had tickets to last night's show and knew that I'd be able to see them soon.
Two very different bands, but one great night of fun music.
