That old familiar feeling

This past Saturday night, I was able to catch both the Stoves and Tiger Mountain in the intimate venue of the Middle East upstairs. Much to my chagrin, I left the Middle East somewhat disappointed.

Outside of a few well placed (and well done) guitar solos I saw little resemblance to the "razor-sharp and rifftastic" band I was promised in the press release promoting the Stoves. While they did rock out periodically, it wasn't the lively experience I was hoping for.

The room, about the size of a classroom in Eaton, was quickly filling up before the Stoves took the stage. Much of the crowd was composed of friends of the band and regulars of the club. Refreshingly, no particular "scene" was overly represented. Although the small area could have been mistaken for Marlboro country (if you're like me and are adversely affected by cigarette smoke, wear a sweater when visiting the Middle East so you'll have something to breathe through).

Without ceremony, the Stoves took the stage. The lead singer looks like Rick Moranis and the band seems like they're going to give us some Weezer style geek rock. But NO. The lead singer rock screams into the mike, "Are you ready to have your ass blown out with rock?" The Stoves give you no time to ponder that question before launching into their first, alarmingly loud _ especially for such a small venue _ number.

If nothing else, the band is enthusiastic. The guitarist jumps across from one side of the stage to the other and the lead singer does Russians, while wearing jeans, no less. Their sound was similar to an accented Vines ("Get Free" not "The Factory"), with no song going over three minutes. The rather repetitive lyrics were reminiscent in their silliness to those of They Might Be Giants. One song was just "Farm Donkey say 'hee haw'" with the obligatory rocking by the other band members.

While the Stoves, may not have been all that great, Tiger Mountain's set was still enjoyable, much more so than the "screamo" being played between the headlining sets.

Big red Afro. That's the first thing I notice when Tiger Mountain takes the stage. The tall bassist standing in the center has a large red white guy afro. I immediately think "They are going to rock!" Tiger Mountain from New York are much calmer than I expected, however. They seem like an edgy Goo Goo Dolls-esque alternate rock band. Which is convenient because that is what they are.

The group splits lead vocal between guitarists Tyler Lenenae and Mike Jackson. Leneane sounds like an older (but happier) Jakob Dylan. Jackson sounds like Julian Casablancas from the Strokes and looks like his older brother (down to the jean jacket; maybe it's a New York thing)

The band's lyrics aren't exceptional, but they aren't exceptionally unintelligent either. The band manages to sing about love, loss and loneliness, barely staying below cry-me-a-river trite. They do have their moments of cleverness, however, one such occasion was their song "Now That You're on TV".

Tiger Mountain was not bad; they were just familiar. It was a pleasant experience, but one that could have been had elsewhere.