The Dodos turning Trix in Antwerp

The night began with a detour in the direction of a Rockabilly gig which happened to be playing the same venue that night. The nice chap on the door for this quifftastic event took us to a lift which carried us to the first floor and a rendezvous with the Dodos. "Hi y'all" I drawled to the man at the desk "is this the rockabilly concert?". After being told no, I pointed out that I was only joshing and settled down to a pre-gig beer.

It's great when you go to see a band and find that a support act are exceptional too. Thus was the case last Saturday night. The Dodos as expected rocked, the surprise in this little kinder egg of a concert were Megafaun. This bearded threesome from Wisconcin sound a bit like the Fleet Foxes on acid, which is no bad thing. Lumbering around like a group of musical Bigfoot, these guys really rocked the house in a moonshine swilling stomping sort of way. I'm listening to their debut album, Gather, Form & Fly at the moment and it's excellent. Well worth a listen.

Support act number two, Cymbals Eat Guitars were OK in a garage bandy sort of way but never really did it for me. One of the rare occaisions I neglected to buy a CD by a supporting act. They'll probalbly prove me wrong now and go on to become multi media megastars.

The Dodos were superb having a harder edge than they did in Brussels and producing a barnstorming performance. I was sure they played more tracks from Visiter and less from their new album than they did at Botanique, but Meric assured me after the show that it was the other way around. Logan thought that it was a strange concert, although quite what that means I'm not sure. Also lost was Logan's signature drum rimming technique, although as he pointed out the acoustics of Trix were such that they absorbed any high sounds, which probably explains why it felt less mellow than the Brussels show and more aggressive.

The band in general were much tighter than when I saw them last, and came over as being far more comfortable with the new material. It's amazing what a few weeks on the road does for a group.

Thinking about the Dodos they remind me a lot of Madensuyu. Both bands build their music around the rythm section, with guitar and drums playing off each other to great effect. The Dodos, unlike Gent's finest do have a third member in their group, Keaton Snyder on Vibraphone, but this isn't a key part of their sound. Fans of either band should check out the other.

After the show Marie finally got to talk to Logan, after someone prevented her doing so in Brussels by talking too much about drumming. Albums and posters were signed, and pictures taken of a smiling happy person with the band.

Thanks to Marie for the heads up on the show, the lift too and from the venue and the pleasure of her most charming company.