Flutterby™! : Somewhere there's music

Wandered down to the cultural center last night for some music. The Flying Other Brothers took about 20 minutes into their set to come together, but once they did they rambled in darned good jam band fashion. There was a strong Grateful Dead like influence on one side, but with an occasional heavy dose of Pink Floyd. Reading their bios is interesting, too. People who's work you're aware of, some because of their musicianship, some for other reasons.

The headline act was Tea Leaf Green, a Jammy winning group with a following, the crowd clearly transcended the valley regulars, lots of folks in from out of the valley. But after the second song or two we relocated towards the back of the field, and a little further in we decided it was time to wander on.

I've only done Ecstasy once, and my reaction was very much "okay, this is what it's like, I'm already bored with how this is messing with my perceptions, but I'm stuck here for a few hours. ho hum." It struck me that this music was what I associate with X users, electronica goes jam band: sound mix biased too strong towards the bass, but mostly repetitive themes, everything trying to be a hook, and a bass line that simply wouldn't go away.

And, unlike the opening band, the musicians seemed to try for some complex riffs that they just couldn't carry through, so runs got muddled, notes got dropped, and I wondered why we had people driving hours to come see 'em.

So having got our ticket's worth out of the The Flying Other Brothers, we came home. The Flying Other Brothers are a good mellow jam band, a great way to spend a hot evening eatin' barbecue and sitting in the shade listening to tunes. Tea Leaf Green was not our cup, but if you like dancing 5 feet from the speakers and want the bass to move you, rather than listening for the complexities of the interplay between the musicians, might be yours.