Mi Ami

Honestly I wanted to go to a different show that night in San Francisco. It was Mi Ami and Double Daggers at The Knockout. It would have been so awesome. I saw Double Daggers play the night before at the Crepe Place and they are yet another fantastic post-punk band that seem to be popping up out of nowhere lately, which pleases me immensely. Hailing from Baltimore, this brutally loud three piece put on one hell of a show that had me running to my car to get ear plugs as soon as the first chord was struck. The lack of guitar worked surprisingly well leaving bass, drums and vocals to deliver a sound that had me nodding my head in glee. The singer was all over the place, tangling innocent audience members in mic cables and almost tripping me on several occasions. A fellow VitaminC4 writer was forced into a sort of slow dance with lead vocalist Nolan Strals much to everyones amusement (but certainly not hers). I picked up their latest release “More” out on Thrill Jockey and I must say I was far from disappointed, needless to say I highly recommend it for those who like that high energy, heavy post-punk sort of thing.

Mi Ami on the other hand is my new favorite band. Their live show I had the good fortune of seeing a few times is nothing short of amazing. Another three piece band now out of San Francisco features ex-members of the D.C. super group Black Eyes and embodies everything you liked about them too. With bass and drums holding down a tight rhythm you can dance to, it allows the third member to lay down spastic guitar and high pitched vocals over it. Their album “Watersports” out now on Quarter Stick is by far the best thing I’ve heard in a long time. If ever you have a chance to see either of these bands live you better do it, no excuses. None.

Deer Tick was good too. And so was Emily Jane White. I didn’t watch Dawes.

-Hiram Coffee

The transformation of the Crepe Place from a funky, old-school Santa Cruz restaurant to the epicenter of what appears to be full-fledged renaissance in the music scene in this town has been a little odd for me. It seemed that overnight, bands like Red Sparowes, who used to bypass Santa Cruz entirely on their national tours, were packing the tiny room at the corner of Seabright and Soquel with people who genuinely seemed to enjoy the music, who didn’t just stand around drunk and indifferent while the bands were playing. This is a great boon for a scene that has long been wracked by apathy and Johnny-come-lately faddishness. Now that dance-punk appears to be over (thank god) for the most part, and the hardcore scene has been reclaimed by the sober people, the fashion of the day, particularly at the crepe place, seems to be of the freak-folk, boots and beads and beards sort. Which is why it was especially nice to see the three dudes of BATTLE /MTN\ deliver a set of some actual Rock music the other night at our beloved creperie.

The dudes consist of one skinny, hyper vegan kid on drums, one brooding, bearded fellow smelling vaguely of whiskey on the first of two guitars, and their leader, a handsome Chinese gentleman with some killer dance moves on guitar and vocals, and they laid it the fuck down at this, the second ever live show they’ve played. The songs veer between instrumental, spazzy post-Don Caballero jams played at Fang Island (google ‘em) speed, and moments of downright heaviness such as the song I know only by the name of “The Stony Jam”, a riff heavy Sabbath throwback that allows the handsome mister coffee to really get his scream on. Of great interest was the song that presented the band as a four piece, with their fourth member playing the electric guitar with a slide. It added a great deal of texture to the songs, which can sound a bit thin at times, and the fleshed out, four piece sound made me think of some of the post hardcore music of the nineties that I used to love and has since disappeared from the face of the earth, for the most part. Think early Unwound, or maybe the mellow parts of bands like Indian Summer and Shotmaker. All in all, a great deal of promise from a really fun band.

However, as we all know, any time you leave the house, you leave yourself open to interaction with any of the endless number of fucking kooky douchebags that this town has to offer. There was this little motherfucker doing his moshing thing in a roomful of people who were standing completely still, and this is made even more inexcusable by the fact that this dude was at least five to ten years older than myself (I am twenty five). Not only did he fall face first and into my lady friend and I (he was apparently in the grips of some kind of guitar induced epileptic fit) he then lay on our fucking feet until we kicked him away. This was then followed by the classy move of knocking the singer’s mic stand over and being so intoxicated that he couldn’t really stand it upright unassisted. It was about nine thirty in the pm at the time, by the way. I heard later that he caused so many problems during the next band’s set that the promoters had to get him in a headlock and forcibly remove him from the venue. Good work bro. First dude ever 86′d from the fucking Crepe Place. Kind of impressive, almost. But I also heard that this same dude’s cab broke down and he had to walk to whatever shit hole apartment or relative’s basement he resides in, so I guess he got his. In conclusion:

BATTLE /MTN\: Awesome, with a lot of potential
DRUNKEN IDIOTS: Everywhere. Be on your guard.
THE CREPE PLACE: Unlikely though it may be, so far the best place to see a show in Santa Cruz at the moment.

Daniel Strong

We arrived at the Crepe Place half way through Daddy Crimbo’s set. All I can really say about them is that I thought it was pretty cool that they got their name from The Kingdom Of Loathing.

Aside from that they were loud and made it difficult to buy a drink. We slowly pushed our way through the crowd to get to the back door. To tell you the truth we spent most of the opener’s set chain smoking in the outdoor dining area which was fantastic. After a conversation about how our friend’s cousin got really into saving the world through meditation and inflating his own ego i decided to go check out Misty Mountain. The place was packed. I stuck around long enough to get the
gist of it. The songs were stony but lacked the energy that backs the singers other band Mammatus. I love Mammatus but this was clearly not them.

I spent the next forty minutes or so watching my friends dive face first into a vat of whiskey and gateway drugs. As sober driver i got to watch the entire ordeal unfold in front of my less than willing eyes. Ugh. Anyways Sleepy Sun was about to go on so once again I found myself wading through a mass of slightly irritating UC students, stoned psyche-rock fans and of course, drunk assholes. I finally got the front of the stage where i found a cozy little spot next to a group of people who very obviously never heard any of the bands on the bill and a little out of their element. I waited for a bit then the lights started to dim, the band members took their places, amps were turned on. then we waited again.

Sleepy Sun kicked off the set with the very appropriately titled song Sleepy Son. AWESOME! LET’S PARTY! The only thing i didn’t enjoy was the tone deaf girl standing next to me trying to sing along while her friend just kept yelling “this song is totally on the cd!! I totally listened to this song!” Good fucking grief Lucy.

Five or six songs into their set i somehow ended up in the back near the bar which was less than awesome. Most of my friends ended up too drunk to stick around, the sound sucked and i couldn’t see shit. The people behind me would not stop screaming at each other so i turned around to politely ask them to PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP. But as luck would have it they were the other half of my very drunk friends that lacked the presence of mind to realize that they needed to leave or shut the fuck up. I am kind of a pushover so i let slide.

After a set of new and old material they finished with the hit single White dove. God they are so good. If you haven’t heard them before just buy the album, buy it now. You won’t regret it. So the official verdict.

Crepe Place- Awesome venue, it can get a little cramped at times, but it’s an all ages venue with a bar. Rad.

Sleepy Sun- Totally rad.

Mammatus- Totally rad.

Kingdom Of Loathing- Totally rad.

I can’t wait to do it again…

- Hiram Coffee.