White Rabbits

I am so into music. Long, long ago, when I was in junior high school, high school, and college, I was a concert-goer. I amassed CDs in alarming numbers (sometimes at the expense of food budget) and if I liked even one or two songs of any group that came to town, I'd totally go to their concert. I'm sure I hit 100 (I saved all my stubs, back in the day) in the years between the ages of 15 and 23 or so.

And they weren't all $50 concerts, either, oh no. They were $5 and $10 and sometimes if the group was *huge* (by my standards) $15, so pretty affordable. And now I pay $35 for Muse and $50 for U2!

So last night was a blast from the past. My sister Joan, my niece Liz, and I went to see White Rabbits at this tiny little bar called the Urban Lounge in SLC. The maximum capacity of the joint is 299. Tiny. And tickets were only $10, just like when I was in high school.

I love White Rabbits. I'd say they're my #3 favorite group. Knowing (as my faithful readers do) that #1 is Muse and #2 is Radiohead—both bands of critical acclaim, accomplishment, and large fanbase—you can see that I esteem them pretty loftily. I see huge, huge potential from these guys, and in ten years I'm going to their $35 concert and I'll laugh about the tiny bar I saw them in way back when. I listened to them for the entire 100-mile drive up to SLC and the entire 100-mile drive home and didn't get sick of their songs even hearing them multiple times (because I have CD versions, and live versions, and a couple of acoustic versions...). Here's a playlist if you want to hear my six favorite songs in order of favoriteness.

So how was it?

Opening group #1 was Mini Mansions. I had never heard of them or their music, but they were great. It was a really enjoyable set. Well done, guys. Music was great, singing was great, easy to listen to.






Opening group #2 was Here We Go Magic. Musically they started off each song well. They have a lot of musical talent. I didn't like the lead singer's style of singing, sounded very falsely falsetto to me; but I think this band's strong point is probably singing, like everyone in that band could sing and had a mike, which made for lots of harmonies and multi-part vocals. Each song went on a bit too long. By the end of every song it just sounded like an eternal jam session we weren't interested in.


For the main event Liz, Joan, and I were really excited for White Rabbits, and we gave up our little table-with-chairs a few feet from the stage and stood front and center instead. And they didn't disappoint. They sound fantastic live, and played all five of the songs I cared about hearing the most. Percussion is White Rabbits' strong point, but the two vocalists sound superb together and they faithfully recreated their layered music on the tiny stage, even with all the limits in sound technology in that bitty little club.
Setting up and soundchecking


Cute lead singer is cute





I could have reached out and touched them
if I were creepy like that.



(I completely loved this beat-up guitar)

Sometimes two power drummers just aren't enough.
You need three to get the job done.




I did have a couple of very minor disappointments:

• Pretty much no eye contact between the band and the crowd. Dude, I was two feet away from Greg Roberts for the better part of an hour, singing my heart out, and he never once looked me in the eye. I don't think any of them really noticed who sang along or knew their songs.
• I could have stepped up onto the stage at any time. These guys don't have a crew or security, they set up and soundchecked their own gear. But after the set was over they walked off the side of the stage and into some mysterious door, instead of mingling with the crowd. They totally, totally should have mingled.
• But I realize I see things through innocent-colored glasses; maybe if they mingled more, too many women would come on to them. How were they to know I would just talk, and not try to get a hotel key card? *shrug*

There are two drummers, Matt and Jamie, but I'm afraid I can't guess at which is which; one sat at the drum kit, and one stood and added percussion of all kinds. The standing one—dude could move. It was kind of primal the way he hit those drums. But Mr. Sits At Kit was my favorite member of the band. He did look out at the audience, he smiled at us, he smiled at other band members, he looked like he was having a marvelous time. And he walked around the venue while the other bands were playing, kind of mixing it up. I want to pinch his little cheeks, wish I'd have gotten a picture with him when he walked by our table.
Me and Joan
Me, Joan, Liz

This is Mike, one of the guitarists from Here We Go Magic, totally chatting up my adorable niece Liz.