Viva Voce w/ Silversun Pickups @ Empty Bottle

I got in free to this one because my brother was the road manager for Silversun Pickups’ last tour. So that’s pretty sweet. Even though we didn’t get there that early, we set up right in front of the stage. The lead singer proceeded to draw as much attention as possible to my brother which was highly entertaining for me and the band, but not so much for my bro. They played a superb set – very rawkin’, much more so than their last show (at Schubas). I don’t have an easy time remember their track names for some reason, but they played nearly every song on their new album. The crowd was really digging them, most notably the drunken fraternity brothers standing around me. They were awfully excited. I was battered about the head and neck, but I suppose it kind of added to the show.

Viva Voce was doing a Black Keys thing with just guitar and drums and loops and stuff. They were a bit plain in my opinion, but I only really caught about two or three songs as I went to hang out backstage with the other bands in the smokiest room I’ve ever had the pleasure of breathing in (first opener was The Kingdom – nice guys; too bad we missed their set).