[Zmick and Lotus at Canopy Club on 10/6/08]

Click the jump for photos, video and a review of Lotus and Zmick’s show!

Zmick:

Lotus:

The show was off to a confusing start. Though scheduled to begin at 9pm, Zmick were set to play from 8:30-9:30, making the audience in the Void Room smaller than the band deserved, but not any less dull. Perhaps too tired or even, er, in a different mindset, the crowd refrained from the dancing and loud cheering that Zmickians are usually known for. Even with the audience lacking in typical high spirits,  the boys proved why they’ve become so established in the community and, incredibly enough, still sound like they’re improving more and more each time I catch them. 

Lotus was pretty good. But…that’s it. They’re entertaining, fun to watch and had the entire crowd swiveling their hips, but they seem to be just another band making that type of music, with no element of excellence that sets them apart from the rest of the genre and its popular bands. Umphrey’s has their unbelievable segueing instrumentals, STS9 has electronic bits throughout songs that make their sound identifiable, and Phish has, well, who even knows how to categorize things like The Helping Friendly Book. Lotus, however, while comprised of talented musicians who put on a successful show, just weren’t as great as I was hoping for them to be.

Though, according to Zmick’s Brad Miller, I should have stayed for the aftershow. Playing their regular Monday night residency immediately after Lotus finished, they were joined later on by guitarist Mike Rempel of the band who sat in for “house music jam that went into ‘Psycho Killer,’” and the band continued playing to a full crowd until 2am. If it sounds like a party, it’s because it probably was — the fans dancing throughout were wholly digging Lotus, but unfortunately, I wasn’t.

Video: