Well hot damn. Got myself a blog here now.
A little introduction, my name’s Fally. I’ve been writing a blog at ktka.com called “I Heart Local Music” for a while now. I’ve covered everything from street musicians to Wakarusa. Because a lot of my entries are centered around Lawrence (yeah! Lawrence!), the guys at Lawrence.com have been nagging me to post my entries on this site too. The blog entries will still exist at ktka.com, but because I live in Lawrence (and love it), it’s not a bad idea to have them here as well.

Most of the time I stick to local acts. But alas, my first entry on the Lawrence site centers around an international group.

Well, it’s been nearly 5 years (5 years?! gah!) since I last saw The Sounds at The Bottleneck. I was 21, young, nearly finished with school, full of energy (and not as cynical) and was ready for a show jam-packed full of good music (IMA ROBOT opened for them that night). And The Sounds didn’t let down that night in 2004. The lead singer nearly popped out of her dress (seriously, no one knows how her flimsy outfit stayed on), and she kept spitting on the crowd. This may not sound appealing to you, but when you’re young this is pretty awesome.

So I was delighted that the Swedish band came back to Larryville last night. I was ready to see if they still had spunk, and if lead singer Maja Ivarsson still had all that attitude going on. I’d later come to find it was a different kind of attitude than I remembered.

First, Hey Champ opened. I didn’t really come in any mood to see any opening band, but now I wish I had caught a little more of this set. They were pretty awesome. Very synthy, but also had that 80’s music feel to them. Like the kind of music they’d set to a movie about an athlete training for the big boxing match / marathon / karate match. Yeah!

The lead singer was even wearing what I can only describe as an 80’s-rrific jacket. I checked out their myspace later. Still chalk full of synth, but not quite the 80’s sound they pulled off live. I recommend checking these guys out.

Then, The Sounds came out. About the time they took the stage is when I noticed the crowd around me. Mostly screeching women. I seriously doubted these girls were in college, but since they appeared to be celebrating the end of finals with a night out on the town with vodka shots, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I would not let this deter me from the show.

The Sounds are also really synthy. When they want to be. One of the things we came to learn about the band was that keyboardist Jesper Anderberg is very talented. The hubby and I have a soft spots for synths, let’s say. This guy did it well. In fact, during the songs where he left the synth to play some guitar, you could tell something was missing from those songs. Without him, they’re just regular crummy-sounding pop songs. With the synth, it’s new wave.

Speaking of new wave…..when The Sounds first came out, it was sort of the hip new and exciting thing to bring new wave back. So they pulled it off well. But they (and their songs) haven’t changed since then. And sometimes I wondered if this bored them.

Because eventually, during the show, lead singer Maja Ivarsson whipped out a cigarette!

Really, Maja Ivarsson?? Are we that boring in little old Lawrence, Kansas that you gotta smoke during the show?

Or are you just bored with the same old routine? I give props to the rest of the band, they definitely had that spunk I saw five years ago. But even though Maja Ivarsson was great at working the crowd (but how hard is it to impress a gaggle of drunk, young women anyway), something seemed off. Like she was bored, showing up, and just doing her job.

I try to understand how difficult it must be being in a band, putting up with the music business, and putting on a great show every night. But I couldn’t help but feel a little insulted.

The worst part was when the band left the stage, and it was just the singer and the keyboardist, who trotted over to a piano on stage (where the heck did THAT come from?!) and they whipped out a slow piano ballad.

That’s when I definitely felt that maybe I was at the wrong show. The rest of the crowd was having fun, but suddenly I felt like I was the chaperon for a group of girls at a pop concert.

Or maybe I’m just getting old.

The bottom line is, “big” names are great when they come through Lawrence, but I have more fun at a local show.

I’ve been disappointed with the lack of strong female performers lately, and am finding that most of the ones I like are local. One shining example is DRI. I know not everyone can be DRI, but she’s never disappointed at a show. And I can’t count on her to show up to a show bored, and whip out a cigarette on stage, acting like the performance was an afterthought.

I don’t want to sound too negative. Like I said, I do appreciate it when the “bigger” acts pass through Lawrence. A bright spot was they they weren’t afraid to pull out old favorites. Here’s “7 Days A Week,” a song they played after a birthday girl requested it. Isn’t that sweet of them? Ah, Swedes.