Whigs/Broken West @ Rock and Roll Hotel, DC [10/27/07]

If you were reading this blog at all in 2006, you'd know that there were four young bands that I really fell for last year - Birdmonster, The Broken West, The Little Ones and The Whigs.

Amazingly, three of those four bands have actually made it to D.C. for shows this month. The Little Ones opened for Voxtrot at the Black Cat earlier this month, and The Broken West and The Whigs hit the Rock and Roll Hotel for a double headlining bill last night.

It had been a while since I'd seen either band, but I gotta say... both bands pretty much blew the roof off the place.

The Whigs gave us the same high energy, exciting show that I've come to expect from them (they haven't lost a beat with the new bassist). They tore through a bunch of songs off of their debut CD, Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip, as well as 4 or 5 songs from their forthcoming album on ATO Records (coming out on 1/22/08). Most of the new songs they played last night were songs they'd been playing live last year, with two exceptions, both of which were excellent as well. Can't wait to hear the new record.




Whereas I expected a great show from The Whigs, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Broken West. It seems like every time I've seen them, they've been in venues that were either too big (Antone's in Austin) or had some other sound-related problems. However, there were no problems at all last night, and their set was without question the best that I've seen them do. They've really rounded out into a fantastic live band and, even better, their songwriting seems to be getting even better. The band played a couple of great new songs last night, including the set opener (whose name I don't know), which has the potential to be my favorite Broken West song yet.




The Whigs and The Broken West are touring together for a few more days. If you have a chance, be sure to catch one of these remaining shows:

10/30: Nashville (Exit/In)
10/31: Cincinnati (20th Century Theatre)
11/1: Indianapolis (Birdy's)
11/2: Chicago (Schuba's)
11/3: Minneapolis (7th Street Entry)