Grandaddy @ LMUSU
By Holden DeForgeApparently trucker style baseball caps are now "cool". Well Grandaddy were wearing them long before the ponces and poseurs deemed them suitable to wear and continue to do so now they are, but for much different reasons I'm sure than the world's fashion victims. I'm sure the band have a similar attitude toward their music; no attempts to join in the latest craze or attempt coolness, these guys just look like they are engrossed with the sounds they are producing. By the end of the evening so shall I be.
The vocals could do with being a little louder tonight; although you are always aware when they dip in and out of a song, they are not always audible enough to make out any actual words. However, I'm fairly certain that, in fitting with the music, they are poignant, sometimes beautiful with maybe a little whimsy thrown in here and there. Ever-changing time signatures and exciting and strange keyboard sounds provide interest to the gentle tunes that power along throughout Grandaddy's set, peppered with falsetto vocals and acoustic guitar. Often becoming louder than you would imagine yet never quite really rocking out like you think they should, the band have a strong body of fine songs that keep your foot tapping and head rocking. There's a delicate Mercury Rev-ness about the songs, perhaps down to the vocals, yet delivered with a permanent positivity. It's not always easy for bands to deliver their music so strongly live but from only ever hearing one or two Grandaddy tracks before his evening I am compelled to go seek out more.
