rone | gig review: we followed tigers @ someone's house

On Thursday, i got e-mail from Shaun of We Followed Tigers (whom you might recall i discovered almost two years ago), informing me that they'd be playing somewhere in Santa Cruz on Friday night. So i was geared up to go see them, but then through a stroke of luck, Kim was able to come with me. After a bracing Thai meal, we drove down to find a bunch of Santa Cruz kids lollygagging behind the house, smoking and drinking. We walked past them and into the house, where a blast of noise greeted us. Oof. We decided to retreat between songs, but then one guy walked in and yelled, "WE FOLLOWED TIGERS!" So i talked to him and he asked me almost immediately, "You're Rone, right?" I thought he was psychic, or maybe he recognized me from a picture online, but he just guessed who i was because he's best friends with the band and he knows everyone who's a fan except for me. He was a very cheerful ambassador and WFT is lucky to have him around (and good luck with that knee, Tony).

He brought us around the front, where Joe, the bassist (who i thought looked a fair bit like tongodeon), was guarding the gear. We bought their CD and chatted for a while. Then we walked to the nearby 7 Eleven to buy beer and met Taylor (drums) and Shaun (guitar) on the way there. Once we got our beer, we stuck around the front, where we could hear the music at a comfortable volume and talked a bit more with the guys. The first band we heard was named Rocinante (great name) and sounded good; i talked with one of their guys and he said they'd be playing at The Attic on the 29th, so i might go check `em out. The second band was pretty good, too; they had a Hammond-heavy sound. Then WFT came on and they rocked. They played eight songs, three of which were new to me. Lots of Shaun's relatives came out to listen and cheer, and they were all very enthusiastic.

One thing i especially like about their music is that, while it's all instrumental, they use screams as percussion (just a couple in each song, on average). There's a spot in what's probably my favorite song of theirs, “The People From the Sky Said They'd Return.” (even the title kicks ass), where the music reaches this point of tension, and they let out a big scream, that gives me goosebumps every time. When they played it last night, i tilted my head back and screamed (i startled Kim), and so did a few others. It was fucking excellent.

You can hear "I Died in an Eighties Car Crash" if you visit their MySpace area (¡PELIGRO! VERY LOUD!). I'm looking forward to more music from them.