Brasstronaut (w/ Analog Bell Service) @ The China Cloud -- 08/13/10

Two great Vancouver bands teamed up for a show that took place at The China Cloud, which I had never even heard of before. It was a strange, nondescript door right on Main, near-ish to Hastings. It is apparently used as a jam space for a few bands, and is a really neat little place. Except for the fact that it didn't have much, or any, ventilation or airflow, causing it to get really hot and sweaty and stinky very fast. Especially when you have a room full of people shoulder to shoulder, dancing.

Which is exactly what the case was for Analog Bell Service! They had an insanely hyper energy, and despite some early technical difficulties -- blamed on it being Friday the 13th (even though it was after midnight at that point) -- they put on a pretty great show. Aside from their own songs, they also slipped in "I Can See Clearly Now" and a bit of "Sunglasses at Night". They closed their set out with "I Guess", which has been stuck in my head all day, but just before that was another cover, this time Dan Mangan's Road Regrets, turning it into an up tempo, almost punk rock-ish sound, which was pretty crazy and worked surprisingly well for the song.

Finally around 1:30, Brasstronaut hit the stage to play. They were as fantastic as usual, but I only managed to hear half their set, if that. The mugginess of the room was beginning to get to me, combined with the fact that I had to be at work seven hours from when they started playing meant I had to duck out after about half an hour or so. But I did manage to hear "Hearts Trompet", which is my favourite of theirs; it was superb live, and well worth the sleep deprivation. I even managed to catch the next song, "Lo Hi Hopes", as I stood outside on the street, next to my car, hearing them as clear as if I were in the room. Even though it wasn't the usual lineup -- Colin Cowan of ABS was subbing on the stand-up bass -- they sounded as good as ever, and I really hope I'll get to see them again soon. The worst feeling in the world is leaving a [good] show early, and I really hated to do so for Brasstronaut, whose album is one of my favourites so far this year.