[Company of Thieves and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin at Courtyard Cafe on January 25, 2009]
For more photos, a review and video, click the jump:
Company of Thieves:
Video:
Company of Thieves performing “Under The Umbrella”:
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin:
Video:
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin performing “House Fire”
It’s a wonderful thing, when the Courtyard is full of people. Spirits are high, performances are better, and it’s easy to ignore that neon siding on the ceiling. And, for Company of Thieves and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s show, the music overcame the venue, a feat that’s, well, not always attainable.
If there’s an efficient way to win over a crowd, COT by far hold the secret to it. With their rock tendencies and gifted frontwoman Genevieve — the way she belts out songs is downright stunning — they played to a crowd that, for the most part seemed to not know who them an hour before, though the long line at their merch table afterwards would have everyone think otherwise.
There’s something that’s more likeable about Company of Thieves than just their undeniably good music, though — they ooze genuineness. Unlike the rock bands comprised of twenty-somethings that throw on this hat and that shirt to “fit the part” and climb up the popularity ranks, Company of Thieves are natural, believable even, and both their talent and excited stage presence drive home the fact that this is what they do, and damn, do they love doing it.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, plainly put, didn’t seem as physically jazzed to be there. But, considering there’s no way to get the crowd clapping to some songs about houses burning down and slow-paced tunes about relationships’ fall-outs, its less of a critique and more of a comment about their placement after a high-energy band. An interview with Phillip Dickey, a member of the band, reinforced their quietly expressed excitement, displayed through his adorable nerves throughout the video.
SSLYBY has a funny way of playing music that seems categorically like folky-rock-pop ballads, but somehow, when it starts, you feel a need to dance, more so to that than horrendous house music crap specifically designed to yield the same result. Always a pleasure live, the show culminated with my personal favorite, “Modern Mystery,” an interesting three minute-r that rounds out with a heavy guitar section and a chorus of vocal chanting, acting like tiny applause for how enjoyable the night was overall.
Live Vicariously:
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Website
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s MySpace
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