I came to the show pretty much unaware of the first two acts and expecting to be blown away by the band I came for, Clock Hands Strangle [pictured below, photo by Nicole Kibert]. That's not exactly what happened.
The opener, Tampa's own the best band of the night. They sounded like Tallahassee's fantastic Holiday Shores with Yoni Wolf of Why? on vocals (if Yoni were less nasally). The foursome produced some pretty pleasant pop-infused rock music, not too loud or too heavy. For one of the songs, "The Walk," they brought out a slide guitar and the delayed twang of the instrument complemented the song's country-tinged melody. The crowd was digging the band during their almost hour-long set and clamored for an encore. The band satisfied, ending epically with a rendition of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." Although lead singer/guitarist Alexander Charos called the freezing cold weather "Floridian blasphemy," the music made this reviewer warm and toasty.
I couldn't handle Tampa rock band Palantine. Their music was too aggressive for my taste. The songs had a sneering punk attitude, but not enough melody, or really anything positive I could get behind.
This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2010.