Blitzen Trapper & David Vandervelde @ Mercury Lounge [7/25/07]

I'm beat, so this post will be short.

Caught current blog-wonders Blitzen Trapper tonight with David Vandervelde. After spending a couple of weeks with the new Blitzen Trapper disc and seeing them live tonight, my basic take is this: good band, bad songs. Well, let me amend that. The band has 4 excellent songs, all of which fall into a Grateful Dead (see: Workingman's Dead) and The Band groove. Unfortunately, though, the rest of the band's songs are pretty boring. They play with a ton of energy, though, and are extremely tight on stage. I just think they need to stick to the Dead sound.




Not surprisingly, a portion of the crowd left the Mercury after Blitzen Trapper's set, despite that David Vandervelde was the headliner. They screwed up. As my friend Matt remarked after the show, this guy has staying power. He's in his early 20's, is an amazing guitar player, and writes great rock songs. Plus, his band is just as good (especially his drummer). And their live show? Electric. Can't wait to see 'em again, as soon as possible.