live music at ten high: copper
Recurring Propeller Skies character The Beaver and I caught the Copper show at Ten High last night. The first couple of songs started out slow, but by the third song the band had warmed up and were starting to rock. On the fourth song, the ever-popular “Miss December”, the band was in full effect, not that the yuppie couple groping each other in front of us noticed. Obviously, they had meant to go to the Dorkhouse but had accidentally stumbled downstairs into Ten High. Anyway, Shane Bragg’s combustible guitar solo focused my attention back on the stage. A bit later, Mr. Bragg broke a guitar string and the rest of the band played a stirring rendition of “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”, which kept the crowd* occupied until the guitar was restrung. As a bonus, the cover also answered the burning question, “what would U2 have sounded like if they were from Nashville and had a funkier rhythm section?” After the technical difficulties, Copper finished their set in fine style. This was the third time I’ve seen Copper play and the first time I went to see them specifically. They’ve gotten better every time. Recommendation: spend your hard-earned ducats to see Copper.
To preserve the balance of the cosmic order, we had to suffer through the obligatory Opening Band That Sucks™. Of course, every once in a while the cosmic order fucks up and I catch a fantastic opening band that blows me away, like when Sunday Munich, opened for Film. Such was not the case tonight. The opening band was The Taste, who apparently did not get the memo that 1987 is over. I guess someone forgot to put the cover sheet on the TPS report and it got lost in the mail. Anyhow, they are an imitation of a bad late 80s hair band, complete with a hair flinging lead guitarist performing an excessive number of gratuitous windmills. Rating: Sucks.