Sparklehorse, Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR, USA

it was a good show, it wasn't a great show. lots of little things could've made it better, but mostly just a few more songs. i've waited a long time to see them play for an hour (including the encore). and the shocker is, it was heavily weighted on the first record, which should've been a good thing, but ended up being problematic. i love vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, don't get me wrong, but it seemed like they were intentionally playing songs that most of the audience didn't know. which kept their energy low, which gave the band less to feed off of, who gave the audience less to feed off of.

there were highlights, too. the transition from studio to stage was interesting to witness. linkous does so many weird, choppy changes in the studio that it was cool to see how it translated. there were several instances where i could tell everyone was just following/trying to keep up, and that sort of tension can be cool. drums filling until the beat becomes apparent, different leads bobbing and weaving until the tension breaks and the resolution flows.

and ending on the most beautiful widow wasn't a bad idea (though the audience talking through it was an... interesting... touch).

in all, it was a good show with a less-than-stellar audience and some questionable choices. add to that the soundguy's obvious lack of experience or skill, and i guess it was better than should've been expected. i'll be happy to see them again because what they can fix i think they will. and what was out of their control i won't hold against them.