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It's a poignant night here at the Middle East, with not one but two bands playing their last show. First, though, is Johnny Nobody, from Buffalo. If they're breaking up, they don't know it yet. They're pretty good. When I come in, they're playing a slow waltz, but they pick up the pace and the energy with the very next song. Their drummer is really good, with speed, accuracy, and great, intricate patterns. The guitar is pretty repetitive--there's like one, or occasionally two, good ideas per song, that pretty much get played over and over--but his singing is very strong.
I've never seen The High Ceilings before, so now I just get to see what I'll be missing. I did see Max trying out new songs solo acoustic once, and didn't really like it, but thought (correctly, as it turns out) that the songs needed the full band treatment. They're not really delicate, melodic songs and they work MUCH better in this setting. Max reminds me a bit of Bono in his vocals, actually: there's a similar tone, and the same facility at switching in and out of falsetto. The guitar leads are exciting, the rhythm section is absolutely solid, and I'm disappointed that I won't get to see them again. I'm annoyed when the drummer throws a drink that misses the singer and hits me, but then the singer flosses onstage with his broken guitar string, and he gets Rock Points for that.
Next are The Model Sons, whom I very much hope I will get to see again. They have a unique, interesting sound that seems to take bits and pieces from many different sources and integrate them in a new way. The sung/shouted vocals are very punky, especially during the unison shouting, but these are not punk songs. (The call-and-response shouting on a couple of songs is particularly cool.) The guitars are almost metal, but without the bloated, overwrought quality that turns me off most metal. The rhythmic structures in some of the songs occasionally approach some of the wild math rock that I love so, with the powerhouse drummer and bassist playing against each other to make a greater whole, but there's not the complexity-for-its-own-sake that turns other people off math rock. They close by bringing people onstage for an all-star singalong, and their fans drench the stage with beer.
Finally, Quick Fix bring their long and noble run to an end before a packed and adoring house. Mike Piehl has been filling in on drums for the last couple of shows, and I am suitably impressed. He's loud and fast and absolutely solid through some wicked hard parts. Necessarily, it's a bit of a Greatest Hits set, and with them playing all our favorite of their pop-rock gems, nearly every song turns into an audience scream-along, with Jake gesturing for more. The band sound great and look like they're having a blast. They close the set with "Suicide Tuesday," fittingly a little slower and sadder than their usual fare, and for the sole encore play the song everyone is demanding, "Adrenaline Junkies." It's a great sad moment.
