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Apples in Stereo The
Holmes Brothers |
Grand Buffet / Magnolia
Electric Co. This site has come about full circle now, approaching almost a full year of reviews. Despite the dearth of venues causing the hipper acts to skip the ‘Burgh (Decemberists, please?), I feel I’ve attended some decent shows in the last twelve months and should thank Wifey for putting up with it all. We saw Magnolia Electric Co. in October of last year and at that time they has just put out a live disk that they were selling only at shows and have since released a new CD that has been getting some play on WYEP of all places. Wifey was working at the church fair so I was alone, bounding across the pothole-ridden 31st Street Bridge atop my mountain bike on the way to the Pub. I got there and it was way packed, no doubt due to that fact the Bloomfield’s own rap sensation, Grand Buffet were on the bill. In fact, they were headlining tonight in a reversal of the rest of the tour’s itinerary. So that meant Magnolia Electric Co. was up first and they took the stage at just before midnight. I saw someone taking pictures up front so I wormed my way up to find Hugh and his trusty bag of shit to get signed. Jay Molina and band started off with a lively “The Dark Don’t Hide It” and followed with “What Comes After The Blues,” the title of their new album although I don’t think it’s on it. Molilna mentioned what a fan he is of The Pub and the band tore through their hour-long set with an impressive show of musicianship, concisely moving from song to song without resorting to the long improvised jams that can often slow them down. I was psyched to hear “Farewell Transmission” and during a totally rocked out “Riding With The Ghost” I was compelled to reach for the one-hitter to get further lost in the moment. They ended the set by inviting up Lord Grunge and Grape-a-Don to sing on a jammin’ cover of “Runnin’ With The Devil.” After a little siesta in the back alley I was standing in the rear of the bar when Grand Buffet went on. I’ve seen the guys a couple of times before, the last time backed by some heavy metal band. They’re bunch of characters and can easily compete with my man Norm Nardini for having the funniest schtick onstage. Getting off to a slow start, they professing much love for Magnolia and talked their usual load of shit complete with Pittsburgh yinzer accents. But about 20 minutes in, I got up in front and they really started to let loose with the rhymes and had the whole Pub hopping up and down. And here’s where I get back to my original thought. I know these reviews suck. I don’t know any song names and got ripped enough that the details of the show escape me. So I’ll refer to the review of a show I wasn’t at and assume it went like that but only better. I mean it was Saturday night for God’s sake! The show ended with the guys from Magnolia coming up on stage for a grand finale like no other. Look at the pictures! People got wet. Shit got crazy. They burned their stuff. Well, whatever happened, it was fucking blast and another one for the ages at the 31st Street Pub. |
