[more]

Just a quickie account for a quickie show. I was so hella sick that night that my memory is pretty much void so excuse the lack of any real detail here.

I arrived at The Hurricane just in time to hear the metallic strains beginning Avondale's set. I paid my $5 (a bit steep) and hustled through the door with my camera up to the stage. Looking around I noticed a few familiar faces, but largely Avondale draw upon a different crowd than I'm used to seeing – more grrls I think. Are these metal chicks?

Despite the band's insisting, Avondale is metal even if other elements occasionally shine through. There is a little edge reminiscent of Quicksand (even the drummer's vocal phrasings), and some of the encompassing noise and atmosphere of Radiohead, but the hard driving guitar, and the singer's high voice with a strong vibrato, provide Avondale with their metal id tag.

The band played a few new songs, a cover or two (including The Beatles' Dear Prudence and bits of She's So Heavy) and a smattering of tunes from their CDep Enormous Black Power Gift in what amounted to a pretty full set for an opener. They got a good reception from their fans as well as the folks back at the bar that never come forward.

Starsky was the unlikely headliner of the show and once most of Avondale had left with their gear and fans, Starsky rocked into standard opener, Shawn Marie. Although it didn't bring anyone from the bar to the stage, it did get the attention of the folks milling around the stage. The bar crowd at the Hurricane is always tough so I cringed when Zach tried to work the audience for participation. In an attempt to win that crowd, the band played their cover of The New Kids on the Block's The Right Stuff. It's a lovely cover with a deliciously anti-climatic chorus that leaves you wonderfully unfulfilled, of course the audience may have had different tastes. The band ended their short set with little fanfare and to lukewarm support of the remaining audience – par for the Hurricane course.