I caught the Black Kites show at The Echo Lounge last night. This was my first time seeing the Black Kites with their new drummer Mike Barnes and only his second show with the band. Susannah Barnes, the bass player, also happens to be his sister and together they are one of the tightest rhythm sections I have ever seen.

This was a great show and included their first* ever encore. For the record, Dial 1: For Everything was the encore. The set also included a new song where Joie Hoke played bass instead of singing lead and Susannah took over vocal duties.

I have seen the Black Kites several times, with the first time being just over a year ago (shortly after they added Joie on vocals). Since then they have played out regularly and have clearly gained confidence. At this show, they owned the stage and were playing off each other, especially Susannah and Amy Burmeister. The Black Kites are so good, it is scary. I recommend checking them out.

Providing support for the Black Kites was a math-rock trio from Brooklyn, Broadband. They were excellent. I am glad I arrived at The Echo Lounge in time to catch Broadband’s set. Visually, they had a very cool look, with all three members wearing sparkly dresses.

According to Joie, Elisha Foley (bass) was, “badass”. I fully agree, her bass lines were melodic and superbly anchored Jen Emma Hertel’s dark and brooding guitar work. Behind Elisha and Jen Emma, Caryn Havlik’s drumming gave Broadband plenty of low-end punch.

I only caught about half of Made in China’s set. In contrast to the math-rock tendencies of the Black Kites and Broadband, Made in China was much more punk. Some of their songs I liked and some I did not. They were a decent opening band (as opposed to an opening band that sucks). A nice touch was the creative low-fi lighting they brought, which was a vintage lamp with the band name on the shade.

There was one post-ironic hipster with a trucker hat sighting in The Echo.

notes:

* With the current line-up.
PHOTO 1: Susannah Barnes and Michelle Cox of the Black Kites playing at The Echo Lounge, Atlanta, GA. February 4th, 2004.
PHOTO 2: Jen Emma Hertel of Broadband playing at The Echo Lounge, Atlanta, GA. February 4, 2004. Both photos courtesy of d.2263 Photographics. View more Black Kites photos.