Unexpected Patterns

The weekend of March 1 was one of my favorite music weekends in a very long time.  On Friday night, Phor and I saw Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks at the Black Cat.  We were surrounded by a forest of tall men but I was happy to just hear what was being played for me.  I fell in love with Stephen Malkmus when he was in Pavement singing about cutting your hair.  I first heard it on WHFS in DC and I was stuck from then on.  I loved them even more when I found out the band was from Stockton. They truly know and understand my angst of growing up in the Central Valley.

I gladly followed him when he went solo.  I was listening to him and trying to articulate in my mind why I love his music.  I came to the conclusion that it's because of the unexpected patterns of his music - the vocals and the melody.  His songs continue to surprise me and they tickle my thoughts.

No photos because of the very tall men but it was a lovely show.  He was engaged with the crowd and the crowd reacted likewise.

The next night we went to the 930 to see St. Vincent.  I was so looking forward to this show after I fell hard for her Strange Mercy album.  The show was sold out and it's not often that I see the club fill up so quickly.  We couldn't wait for her to get on the stage.

I have a full blown crush on this woman.  Her songs, her style, her movements.  I couldn't get enough and I was so happy the entire night.  She played a great mix of old and new songs and the crowd loved them all.  I highly recommend her just released self-titled album.  I was thinking why I love her music so much and it's the same reason as Stephen Malkmus - unexpected patterns of music, the surprise of where she is going next.

It was a lovely weekend of music.