The Oohlas at the Detroit Bar

I braved Cinespace last year some time to attend the cd release party of The Oohlas debut cd "One Stop Pop". I also caught their show almost a year ago at the Knitting Factory with Gliss, The Secret Six, and Pop Levi. I somehow managed to have missed their tour with Maximo Park and a few one off Los Angeles shows but made sure that I would catch their appearance at the Detroit Bar.

Northern


Northern from Orange County opened the show on a somber note as they mentioned it was the last show for their keyboard player Phil Nisco. Northern plays a blend of acoustic melodic songs in the vein of Jeff Buckley, Coldplay and Keane. They did a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins song "To Sheila" which had Phil pulling off a flawless keyboard performance. Phil stepped out in front of the microphone to sing a song from his former project Vela which included two other members of Northern. I hope they can find a suitable replacement for Phil.


Aushua



Aushua continues to grow by leaps and bounds. I last saw Aushua in September at the Detroit Bar. I had a busy October and didn't catch their Silverlake lounge residency but I heard good things about their shows. Nathan Gammill (Guitars/Vocals) gave an impassioned performance with his urgent vocals interlaced with the hollow reverb drenched guitars. Phil Newyear (Bass) had his Fender bass locked in time with his brother Lee on drums. The guitar tones on "Sister Saves" draw you into the song and are constructed to match rather than overpower Nathan's vocals. They played a new song entitled "Reverberation" that shows they have a very bright future ahead of them.

The Oohlas




The Oohlas released their album one of my favorite local releases of 2006 with "Best Stop Pop" which is available on itunes for the super low price of $7.99. I thought the inclusion of their song "Small Parts" on the Spiderman 3 soundtrack would boost their stock but unfortunately the song is buried near at the end. In terms of live performance, the Oohlas put on a high energy show with Olivia Stone (Guitars/Vocals) being the focal point. Olivia had her Fender Telecaster plugged into her Marshall Combo amp that blew out three songs into their set as they were really starting to get into a groove. The amp problems unfortunately endured the rest of the set but the band soldiered on. Olivia's partner in sonic crime is Greg Eklund (Guitars) who varied his guitar tones by playing a G&L Telecaster with a Mesa Boogie combo amp. Greg had an assortment of pedals with the notable ones being an Electro Harmonix POG, an Electro Harmonix Polychorus and a Z. Vex Super Duper. I did enjoy "The Octopus" and "Across The Stars In Blue" which features Greg on Vocals. The Oohlas are going back into the studio to record their sophomore album.
 
The Oohlas setlist at the Detroit Bar (11/29/07)
"Tv Dinner"
"Tripped"
"Small Parts"
"Cahuenga Shuffle"
"Gone"
"Octopus"
"Snow Shoes"
"Across The Stars In Blue"