Great Northern at Spaceland

Spaceland was filled to the brim. The crowd was ready to bestow a homecoming welcome to the touring warriors of Great Northern. They have been on tour for quite sometime and I can't imagine playing home for one day and then having to travel up the coast for a few more dates as the finale of their tour approaches.



Twilight Sleep started the night off with their dreamy synthesizer laced ambient set. I last saw them with the Silversun Pickups at the Troubadour and they have since changed drummers and added a guitarist to add more layers to their already dense songs. I was originally fooled thinking that they were playing their guitar through their laptop but was corrected when I found out it was connected to an amp. Tracy Marcellino(Vocals) has a stunning voice that immediately conjures visions of Bjork. Raj Lathigara(Keyboards) had a nice dense rack of keyboard modules producing synth strings one moment or moments of mellotron the next. They were well received by the Spaceland audience.




Spaceland was officially packed by the time The Comas delivered their dynamic set of indie power rock. Andy Herod (Vocals/Guitar) seemed to have even more energy tonight. I failed to mention he used a bullhorn at the Belly Up show for a song but not on this particular night. I was impressed with his yellow skull percussive shaker that is pictured above. Nicole Gehweiler continued to dazzle me with her guitar chops and various tones throughout the set. Rachel and Solon from Great Northern made another guest spot during their performance of "Red Microphones". I have been spinning their insanely catchy album "Spells" on Vagrant records.






Having covered Great Northern many times now, I think everyone knows how much I like this band. Their debut album, "Trading Twilight for Daylight" is spectacular and the amazing thing that it sounds even bigger in a live setting. The dynamic chemistry and synergistic voices of Rachel Stolte (Keyboards/Vocals) and Solon Bixler (Guitars/Vocals) pulls the listener in and captivates your attention. Solon had his usual assortment of pedals in front and I came to the conclusion that I need to get an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man as Solon used the pedal very effectively for some nice hypnotic effects. During "A Sun A Sound" Solon used his bullet microphone for a nice distorted vocal effect that sounds like he was singing through an old radio. "Into The Sun" was scorching like the sun that had decibel meter on overload. Davey Latter (Drums) was his usual on the clock percussive self while Ashley Dzerigian (Bass) handled the basslines on her white Epiphone Thunderbird Bass. I will have to recommend you see them at the Detroit Bar in a few weeks or live with the regret forever.

Great Northern Setlist for the Spaceland in Los Angeles (8/10/07)
"Intro"
"Our Bleeding Hearts"
"Just a Dream"
"Telling Lies"
"A Sun A Sound"
"Low Is a Height"
"City of Sleep"
"Home"
"The Middle"
"Into The Sun"