Black Angels Quickie @ The Rave 10/24/2007

A quick set with the impressive Black Angels and special thanks to Rush-Mor Records in Milwaukee…

After a long drive in Chicago rush hour traffic and two days of intense meetings for work in the windy city, my next task was finding “two-drink minimum” tickets for the Queens of the Stone Age show at The Rave for that evening. Our sights were not on QOTSA however—I was scheduled to be back at work that evening during their set anyway. We were seeking another experience with The Black Angels, who had wowed us at Bonnaroo this year while we were staking out a spot for Mute Math’s Thursday night set.

After making a couple calls, we found two-drink tickets at Rush-Mor Records on Kinnickinnic in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. We dropped over to Rush-Mor, and on our way in we encountered a man in great distress.

“Man, where am I??!! I was so drunk I fell asleep on the bus, and now I don’t know where I am! I gotta get home to my momma!”

We gave the guy the 70 cents we had, and started walking into Rush-Mor.

“What’s this place, the freak show?”
“No, it’s a record store.”

He followed us in and repeated his story to the proprietor. He managed to get enough for his return ride, apparently, and left the store.

Meanwhile, I was browsing Velvet Underground albums. Cal has clued me in to the origination of the reverberating psychedelic sound that captured me when I picked up Passover, the critically-acclaimed studio release from The Black Angels. The proprietor suggested the Velvet Underground & Nico album as an introduction to the band. We talked about the show that evening, and next I knew he was handing us two extra tickets. Big thanks to Rush-Mor Records for being “good Christians” twice over that evening. Dude got home to his momma, and we got free tickets for The Black Angels.

I must admit that this story is not leading up to an equally entertaining review. We got 45 solid minutes from the Black Angels, but alas, they were just the opener. The Rave, as expected, muddled their sound, especially the vocals. But otherwise, the show was great, and it left us wanting more. The band made subtle changes to songs throughout the set, and even teased a couple noise jams that showed some great potential, had the band more time. I still look forward to my first full set with this band. You should, too. If you haven’t heard Passover, check it out. You won’t be disappointed.