Something Like Sound

I really should title this post “Julie Davis: The Hardest Working Musician in Denver.” I swear, everywhere I went last night I couldn’t escape the bassist/lead singer from Bela Karoli. Turns out she started the evening with a solo set (I didn’t catch), then I witnessed her playing with Dan Craig, Bela Karoli (obviously), and The Wheel. Kudos to you Julie, it takes a real trooper to do what you did. Ok, now on with the review.

To begin, I took it a little easier today. I rolled in to the Baker neighborhood around 7:30 and tried to catch some of the Josephine & The Mousepeople set at Indy Ink. The bit that I stayed for was enjoyable, but the non-traditional space suffered from 2 things: Deafening the people in the front and obscuring the view of everyone else (other than that it was great). From there I wandered over to the Hi-Dive (which seems to be a black hole to me, I am continually drawn towards it, with no hope of escaping). I caught some of Dan Craig‘s set, then stuck around for Elin Palmer. Palmer is absolutely charming, from her eclectic instruments (pictured is a traditional Swedish folk-instrument), to her soft voice and songs in Swedish, I must say I enjoyed the set.

Next was Bela Karoli, with special guest Ian Cooke. As the night continued, the Hi-Dive seemed to get more crowded and hot with each set. I don’t believe they had to turn people away, but there was certainly not a spare place to stand for this avant-pop group. The set was solid (as usual), but the addition of an extra cello and a keyboard really rounded things out.

I overheard someone say “There’s only one band in Denver, but it has all of these different manifestations.” Agreed. About half the people from Bela Karoli were on stage to perform with The Wheel. It seems like every time I see The Wheel, their sets just get better (I attribute this, in part, to the fact that they’ve gone to a full-band lineup).

Finally it was past midnight and things started to dissapate slightly. However, I had waited all night to see my favorite local group, Houses. When I listened to their Spring EP, I was hooked: flowing melodies and feel-good tunes. Andy Hamilton & Co. were not the ones to dissapoint that night, as they played through a number of new songs (from their forthcoming Summer EP, out August 7). While I loved the Spring tunes they played, the Summer stuff was even better. Tighter guitar parts and dancability have been added to the Houses mix: let there be much rejoicing. By the time they finished it was past 1:30, it was time to go home.