Sexy dancing and crowded clubs. That's what this column will be about this week, because, well those two things are what have been cemented in the mind of Sound Check... and we just can't shake them free.
The crowded club side of things stems from Thursday night's incredibly well attended G. Love and Special Sauce show at the Domino Room. It was already getting cozy in the D. Room when local Eric Tollefson impressed us with a shockingly rocking, pleasantly bluesy set to open the show. But by the time I returned to the venue after crossing the street to check the score on the Oregon/Boise St. game and then see the subsequent "punch heard 'round the world," things were different. First off, there was a "Sold Out" sign on the door and secondly, you could hardly move in there.
It was packed - more packed than we'd ever seen it. But G. Love didn't seem to mind that this was far and away the smallest room on his tour, staying seated for his blues numbers, then romping around the stage for hits like "Maxin' Relaxin.'" G. Love proved entertaining enough for Sound Check to ignore the elbows slamming into our ribs and the pelvises pressing against our rears (not as sexy as it sounds, people). When we got home, we peeled off our sweaty clothes, realizing that, ewww, that wasn't our sweat.
On Monday night, after a long day of laboring on Labor Day (did we lose a war or something?) Sound Check was at the chilly Athletic Club of Bend where Brett Dennen and his band were closing out their extensive summer tour. You wouldn't think that a seemingly awkward 6 foot 5 inch man with a Raggedy Andy-like mop of red hair could be sexy dancer, but Dennen is just that. Tossing his hips from side to side and thrusting his pelvis (second mention of pelvis in this column, in case you're scoring at home) with little regard for the sanity of the women in attendance, Dennen worked his way through a set including hits from his new album like "Crazy," but also whipped out older hits like "Blessed" and "Darlin' Do Not Fear."
This set the bar high... that Jason Aldean better be sexy this week.
