Red Sox fans weren't the only ones treated to an outstanding show Wednesday night. Fans of Saddle Creek's The Good Life and crank! Records' Neva Dinova were given a night to remember as well.
And for those who ambled into Nietzsche's eager for both, the re-entry hand-stamp might be worth keeping a while.
The duality of the evening's entertainment was manifested in not only the acts themselves, but also the name of the opening band, the '89 Cubs. The appropriateness is frightening. The Chicago Cubs are, after all, the National League equivalent to the American League's Boston Red Sox. Spooky.
The '89 Cubs features members of The Good Life and Desaparecidos. They bear the mid-western combination of rock and country practiced by the other bands on the bill. Drummer Matt Baum shouted from the back of the stage, encouraging fans not to clap, but to "be a part of history" and instead raise some jazz-hands and yell. The crowd turned out to be willing participants.
When singer Ryan Fox asked for the score of the American League Championship Series seventh game, someone answered to his delight, "6-0, Red Sox."
Neva Dinova came with mostly new material and some high-quality between-song banter.
"We've never been here before. We're going to play some new songs you've never heard, since this is our first time here," said lead singer/guitarist Jake Bellows.
Once they had played a song or two, after some bellowing had loosened his larynx, Bellows started hitting high notes he had missed earlier in the set. He also lost some tension in his persona.
"I know what you're thinking. 'This guy,'" he said, "'he's losing his hair.'" Unanticipated self-deprecation certainly is the key to any concertgoer's heart.
Members of the crowd applauded as Bellows struck the opening chords to "Spring Cleaning." The rest of the group sat back and appreciated, as Bellows played alone. They looked not bored, but engaged by their own tune.
"Her man's got an angry mouth/ Once told me to rot in hell/ He's poisonous, reasonless/ Demons and Jesus/ If he died it'd be just as well," he sang.
There has to be a coal miner back in Omaha waiting for Bellows's return.
Of the new songs that Neva Dinova played, the best were "A Picture in Pocket," with its bright southwestern guitars, and the rollicking "She Can't Change" in which Bellows displayed impressive range as he sang a pleasantly nagging melody to the line, "If it's too hard, be honest."
The Good Life's Tim Kasher is on a short list of performers who can walk onto a stage with a Rollie Fingers-style mustache and still be taken seriously.
Kasher's voice is one of the matchless variety. It is immediately recognizable, in the same way that Elvis Presley's, Michael Stipe's or David Byrne's are. The leader of indie powerhouse Cursive, Kasher brings to stage a lore that has been cultivated for years: from Commander Venus, his project with Conor Oberst, to The Good Life's latest release, the splendid "Album of the Year."
The Good Life's sound has a duality of sorts, as well. Kasher's aforementioned voice and delivery are enough to lure Cursive fans in, but the instrumentation, song structure and slightly more laid-back vibe are perhaps more impressive and accessible than Cursive itself.
The Good Life was not hesitant to rip off songs from all of their releases, as indicated by their inclusion of both "O'Rourke's 1:20 a.m." and "I Am an Island" from "Blackout."
Despite the raucous crowd approval, at the end of the planned set list it was still unclear as to whether there would be an encore. The entire band left the stage while Kasher conversed with the crowd over the microphone on a variety of issues.
"An encore isn't really a song, it's more of a thing that happens," said Kasher, cracking wise to an underage drunk.
He then reprimanded himself for judging her.
"I'm sure she's a good person. We're not that simple, are we?"
For an encore, The Good Life brought out a few gifts for the audience. "Your Birthday Present" from "Novena on a Nocturn" was dedicated to his newborn nephew. The band also played "Friction!," from their lauded "Lovers Need Lawyers" EP and "Inmates," from "Album of the Year."
Halfway through their encore set, Kasher asked the score of the game.
"9-3, top of the ninth," someone near the bar replied.
"I think that one's over," said Kasher in a singsong voice. "I'm sorry if there are any Yankees fans here, but you guys had it coming."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
