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Artists:
  AMERICAN ANALOG SET w/ Her Space Holiday  
 
Date:
  Saturday.10.August.2002  
 
Venue:
  The Earl  
 
Location:
  East Atlanta, GA  
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Performance Rating:
   
 
Sound Quality:
   
 
Overall Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

There were just two bands on the bill tonight, so i was not annoyed when i showed up at 10:30 and nobody had started playing yet. I was assured that the first act would start soon, and so i went to fetch a beer as The Earl steadily grew more and more crowded. It was rather packed by the time Her Space Holiday took the stage.

I really really like this band. They do catchy pop tunes with a sense of humor. And they do them with keyboards, laptops, and a table of whirly lights. It's like a homemade dance club or something.

Anyway, they played another brilliant set. Apparently leader Mark Bianchi prefaced the last song with the phrase, "It's been a crappy year and this might be the last time you see us. Ever." I missed this comment being stuck in the restroom, but Tracers dutifully reported it to me. It would be a damed shame if Her Space Holiday broke up. Then again, it is always best to quit at the top of your game.

And they certainly were in form this night. They sounded good, and the songs were fun and energetic.

So i stood there, watching a basically electronic duo perform, and at one point they indicated that they were going to do their version of an American Analog Set song, from the new AmAnSet Updates EP (which was the ostensible reason for this tour). And so the vocalist for AmAnSet came out and sang his part into the computer, where it was mixed and spliced right there. Live. Brilliant!

The guitarist for AmAnSet also lended his axe to a few tunes, and that seemed odd to me. I mean, Her Space Holiday are more or less an electronic act, and here was a guitarist "guesting". Strange. I felt like i was witnessing some sort of musical fusion of tremendous import. As if i was seeing the contemporary equivalent of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew album. As if the fusion of laptop electronica and good old-fashioned rock was happening live right in front of me.

Maybe something significant was happening. Or maybe i should just stay away from PBR when i am really tired. I dunno, but it seemed significant at the time.

After their set, The Earl grew even more crowded. Tracers and i retreated to the back of the club to grab some air, and wound up staying there outside the press of people, for it got REALLY crowded when American Analog Set took the stage.

It was a wierd crowd. I knew almost none of the faces (which is very odd for an Indie show in my home town), and these people seemed dressed a little, ahem, better than the average indie fan. That is -- these fans seemed to be refugees from somewhere else, and not the standard "bad-hairdo and tatoos" crowd that frequents The Earl. Why is that? How did American Analog Set become popular outside of the Indie Rock Community? Did they have a song on Ally MacBeal or something?

Very wierd. And annoying, since these people stood around talking loudly to each other and on their cell phones, which made it exceedingly difficult to hear the subtle music of the very band these people were supposedly there to see! I just don't understand "posing"...

Anyway, despite all of this American Analog Set put on a very competent set. I had to strain to hear lots of it, but what i could hear sounded great. They played All About Us, which must be their classic tune, as well as the Her Space Holiday song they cover on the Updates EP, even dragging Keely onstage to sing with them.

So overall, it was a fine night with some fine music.

 
         
 
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