CMW Final Night

I was dead-tired from several late nights at CMW. But I already bought tickets for tonight's showcase. Also, it was the last CMW show for The Silver Dollar. This venerable venue was slated to close after several decades for yet more condos. To be honest, I wasn't that sorry to see it gone. Whether it was the equipment or the grizzled sound tech (perhaps with a life-time of hearing damage), the mix here is usually terrible. And oh yes. Sets were always late, sometimes by an hour or more.

With that in mind, I only showed up for 2 acts, and only for Japanese Breakfast. Before then, Liam Betson (Titus Andronicus) did his 11 pm solo set at 11:20. I guess even CMW's strict set times can't prevail over The Dollar's lackadaisical approach. The best part of his set was his hilarious and excessive inclusion of Free Bird into his final song. I hope Betson didn't get clobber by the guy in the audience being mocked for his ironic request.

It was the last night of a Triple Header (a tradition) for Michelle Zauner. Her band was loud and tight, covering both new material and songs from her Psychopomp album. The new music was more electronic and synth-y, including liberal use of a vocoder on Machinist. They fought through some sound issues, mostly of the sound-guy-paying-no-attention-to-band problems. Being the last set, they returned for an encore to cover The Cranberries' Dreams.