Bears
After Sean the bass player was done fighting the Simpsons pinball machine at the Grog Shop - he was victorious after having lost a quarter and then tenaciously fishing it back out, Cleveland-based indie pop outfit Bears came out to an impressive crowd on a cold and snowy (in other words - "Cleveland in January") Monday night. The somewhat-hyped band played a fairly paint by numbers set. The band shined brightest when playing bigger sounding songs, the ones that featured more drums and louder bass. Sadly, the songs which sounded so sublime on their debut lost something in the translation to the live setting, as the drummer's weaker vocals were exposed and too much space in the songs left them somewhat muted. "How to Live", "Everywhere", and "Still Alright" were not done justice as the delicate but powerful songs that they can be. Luckily, two new songs as well as album-(and show-)closer "Stay" came off as mighty examples of what kind of live band Bears could be, and seem to be growing into.
JJ Magazine
I don't know anything about this band and their performance did not inspire me to learn any more about them. A five-piece with good musicians and a female vocalist with a nice voice, but the songs were lackluster. No new or interesting ground is being broken here. No more people showed up for this portion of the show than were there for Bears, giving the impression that no one else gave a dook about them either.
Asobi Seksu
Filling up an album with sound is a lot easier than filling up a room with sound. Going in, you know it will be difficult for Asobi Seksu's highly textural brand of new shoegaze to be satisfactorily reproduced onstage. The band was tight and clearly knew their strengths, Yuki's impeccable vocals and their branded soaring guitars and pulsating basslines. The only thing that sounded as good live as on wax was the aforementioned vocals, which were spot on and pure of tone throughout. Album standouts "Thursday" and "Strawberries" also shone through here, with the Pixies-esque loud/soft, start/stop dynamics being played up stunningly. However, other songs lacked power, and the set never really got rolling. By the time they closed with a cover of The Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me", the audience was left feeling like they'd already heard a variation on this sonic theme all through the show.
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