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The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, 12 March 1997
with Polar Goldy Cats and Dirty Three

Review #1 | Review #2

Polar Goldy Cats - Generally awful. Actually, that's an overstatement. They would have been good in small doses, but unfortunately, like the Pacific Ocean and Dennis Rodman, they didn't come in small doses.

Low - Awesome. Evidently, they're doing a little better financially, as they now have *2* drums in addition to a cymbal, guitar, and a bass. Not surprisingly, they were really nice, quiet people - in fact, the bassist was so modest that he didn't face the audience throughout the entire performance. I could listen to them for hours and not get bored of them, so it was too bad that a) they were just the opening band and b) I was a little tired, so their quietly beautiful tunes caused me to doze a little. No matter. They were great.

Dirty Three - Here's the low-down on Dirty Three. They're from Melbourne, Australia, and consist of drums, guitar, and fiddle. OK, that's the "Three" part - what's the "Dirty" part? Yes, well, that would be the fiddle-player himself (Warren). No telling what Warren had to drink before he hit the stage, but while he was up there, he was handily consuming a bottle of red wine. Warren gyrated like you wouldn't believe - I would almost go as far as to say that he was more limber than I am - kicking wildly in the air, shaking his bum, writhing about - all the while sawing away at his fiddle. I don't know *what* Warren was on, but let me give you a selection of some of his song intros, and you can draw your own conclusion:

Now I think I finally understand where they're coming from.

Richard Lewis
rneidigl@earthlink.net


I guess opening bands are different in all areas, but I think the opening band was called Goldie Cats (??). They were pretty blah, and didn't play that long.

Low entered and I barely recognized Zak with his suit (!!) and Alan with his longer hair and coat.

Set went:

- new song 1 (short; sounded like Zak was sound-checking the bass)
- Over the Ocean
- Anon (slower than i've heard them play it before)
- The Plan
- new song 2 entitled No Need (from the split single)
- new song 3 (something about sand castles)
- new song 4 (Venus? awesome song - best of the new stuff, poppy and upbeat)
- Lullabye <-- insane! first time i've heard it live and it was worth the $14 alone
- stars gone out
- same

and that's it for low. i had no idea how Dirty Three sounded - i just knew they had a violinist and from the reviews i've read, they sounded intriguing.

overall impression of D3 - "amazing" as alan put it.. BUT - bring your earplugs, because they can get loud. the singer looks like Ray Davies from the Kinks, and the drummer looks like Lol Tolhurst, formerly of the Cure. :)

As an added surprise, Mike Watt (from fIREHOSE and the Minutemen, and now solo) popped on stage with his bass for the closer.

As for the split CD single, it was $5 and shirts were $12.

for those that haven't seen them yet, look forward to Lullabye if they are keeping that set intact, and the new song Venus.. i love it..

Jason
lament@mailhost.primenet.com


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