Shearing Pinx @ Hemlock S.F., 7/1/07
This was an all around good show, even though my band Red Nurse practically cleared the room with the volume of our set. But it was great that Shearing Pinx made it down; just two days before in Portland, their second stop, their van broke down. So the day of the show they made the 13-hour drive and played to a half-filled Hemlock. Pure punk rock.
As far as the music goes, just listening to a few songs basically describes the rest of their set: noisy, abrasive no wave with bits of free jazz thrown in as bridges or choruses. There’s some pretty sweet riffs thrown in there, but if you’re not a fan of “punk free jazz” (which is really guitarists just strumming anything on their guitars that seems noisy while their drummers impersonate a Keith Moon solo), then this might not be your thing. (Or maybe it wil convert you? Who knows?)
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“What day is it? Tuesday? It’s Lightning Bolt day.”
I’ve been waiting to see Lightning Bolt since “Wonderful Rainbow,” but back in those days the band’s shows were practically secret. I’d find out about a warehouse show the following day, which would be followed by comments like, “Oh man, you didn’t know? It was such a great show!”
This time they advertised the show in the Guardian and I bought my tickets online — $10 each, with fees. I arrived a little late to the show and discovered a line in front of 12 Galaxies that stretched around the block. It was not for tickets to the Lightning Bolt show, but will call. I could’ve pulled a “I’m a journalist and need to get inside right now!” especially since I was sporting a camera bag and a microphone stand, but I was afraid to be rejected and embarrassed. So I waited around a 1/2 hour to get inside.
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