Lake @ The Smell

A friend of mine a few weeks back had suggested checking out his friend's band, Red Pony Clock at The Smell. I'm always up to checking out new bands so off I went . . . even if I was feeling slightly under the weather. I met up with four of my friends.

The first band up for the night was Stellaluna. They're a band from Phoenix. They played in the front stage. There was a nice crowd to see them though perhaps a bit shy. The band kept on encouraging people to come closer. They had just arrived from Phoenix, traveling throughout the day.


In the back stage was Red Pony Clock.. This is a large band. They had seven folks on stage. From what I could over-hear, they were missing members so they're even a larger band than just seven. One member plays a vibraphone -- sort of looks like a xylophone. Another played the accordion. Then you had a violinist. I love violinists in bands. I have to say what I found interesting was the fact that three of the band members were using music sheets. This sort of makes me wonder if a number of the band members are new.




During the break, one of my friends mentioned that a band called Lake was headlining. He went to check out when they were playing and was "told" that they were playing last. He was like, "Well, they're really good, but I don't think I can stay out that late." So off he went. Meanwhile, the third band was starting to set up. I don't know who said it, but one suddenly asked, "Is this perhaps Lake?" A crowd was beginning to form. I turned to a couple guys hanging nearby and asked, "What band is this?" The reply, "Lake." Well, a friend quickly sent a text message to the guy who had left. He probably missed one or two songs. Lake is also a rather large band of six. They also have the trait of switching instruments throughout the set. I loved them from the start. The lead singer at one point said, "You guys need to talk over our songs to make us feel more comfortable." Yes, they had all of our attentions. Too bad they're from Seattle -- though one of the female members mentioned that she used to hang out at The Smell when she was in high school. Who knows, maybe they'll relocate and start playing at Spaceland in a year or two.






The last band I saw was actually Lake again as they accompanied their friend Karl Blau. There was perhaps a fifteen minute break and then they all came back on stage, but this time Karl Blau led out. So I got about an hour of Lake and really did enjoy it all.






The one great disappointment: there weren't any vegan tacos like the last time I went to The Smell!!!