Japandroids / Bass Drum of Death @ Bryan Street Tavern, Dallas, TX

I had been debating whether or not to include this show on the site, but ultimately, it was too good to leave off. I mean, when I heard Japandroids were coming through Dallas and at such an intimate venue, I gobbled up a ticket the same day.  For those of you who weren't following me at the time, I first saw Japandroids perform at New York City's fantastic venue, Piano's, in 2009 and included that performance in my top ten best of that year.  The amount of energy these two put into that show was unreal and the amount of sound they created was amazing.  I mean, had it not been for a Beatle named Paul McCartney and a little UK band named Muse, I would have put these guys at the top of the list.  It was just that good.

So fast forwarding to 2011, I rolled up to Bryan Street Tavern to inspect the space as I had never been there before.  The bar are was pretty standard and the venue space was pretty plain.  These are not bad things, trust me.  I felt as I had been transported back to NYC and was about to watch them perform in a similar space I had previously seen them at.  Thoughts of nostalgia floated through my head and only made me think of all the good times I had in the Big Apple.  But my present is now in Dallas and there's no place I'd rather be.  Opening the show was Bass Drum of Death, who are typically a two-man band, but who have enlisted the services of a second guitarist on tour.  As Duane pointed out last month, these boys are loud.  With the smaller space and a close proximity to the amps and PA's, it was only natural for their set to be loud.  Their set was pretty great and I really enjoyed them despite not knowing much of their catalog.  Nothing flashy, just good 'ol garage rock.

As Bass Drum winded down, the crowd had continued to grow until the space had been filled to the brim.  As Dave and Brian were setting up their gear, I made sure to have the best vantage point of the show, as I knew I was going to take photos and as much video as I could of their set.  Oddly enough, I was standing in the exact same place I stood while watching them at Piano's.  But as they took the stage and warmed up the crowd, I knew this show was going to be different than before, other than the new material.  For starters, these guys have polished off their somewhat raw sound.  Tracks such as "Young Hearts Spark Fire" and "The Boys Are Leaving Town" were spot on and duo's delivery only made them better.  During the evening, the band played three new tracks from their forthcoming album (including the much blogged about "Adrenaline Nightshift") but it was the songs from their debut album, Post-Nothing, is what the crowd came to see; lest we not forget last year's "Younger Us".  The show was straight-forward and everything a show should be.  Great exchanges between band and crowd and finely-tuned machine created nothing but memories and mayhem.  Videos and pictures of the show are below:

enjoy.