The vibe should have been swanky for the live hometown debut of the sultry sounds of
Lovage last night at Slim’s in San Francisco. The band, the newest project of
Dan The Automator, this time in his Nathaniel Merriweather of
Handsome Boy Modeling School guise, busted a groove for a packed house last
night, drawing almost all their material from their 75Ark release, Music To Make
Love To Your Lady By. Included in the Lovage crew are none other than
ex-Faith No More/Fantomas frontman Mike Patton,
Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields and turntablist extraordinaire Kid
Koala. The band played up the supposed swinging sexiness of their album, with
The Automator in a bathrobe and huge fake sideburns and with Patton
making many sexual references. The band were great; however, yet again, I was
mesmerized by the crowd.
Why this happens to me, I do not know, but every once in a while I will just be transfixed
by a demographic and it will suck away my attention. This time the crowd reminded me
of the human equivalent of that junk drawer everyone has. You know the one. The one
with ticket stubs, old photos, weird knick knacks, loose change, Monopoly hotels,
matchbooks, all sorts of strange bits and bobs. Translated into human terms it was tiny
high school kids, weird fully-bearded Lord of the Rings looking dudes, faux
hipsters, full-bore hippies, frat dudes and more. It was the most confusing thing I have
ever seen. And I’ve seen some confusing stuff, believe me. It sucked away my
lifeblood. I could only watch in sheer incredulity at the social misfits that abounded. Oh
well, the music was good, at least. The vibe just left something to be desired…
Source: Jeremy P. Goldstein
Related:
