DeVotchKa @ GAMH 01/14/16

[El Dingo]

OK. I'm getting tired of these weekday shows with doors @ 8PM, opening band @9PM, Headliner 10PM (or later).

I'm old and have to go to work in the morning.

Fortunately The Great American Music Hall is a comfortable, laid-back venue. If you get there early (we did) you can grab seats and a table upstairs, knock back a few Irish Coffees and chill for the show.

The opening band, Barrio Manouche ( http://www.barriomanouche.com/music.php ), was great. A Mariachi/Jazz fusion group from San Francisco played some cool, long instrumentals with amazing guitar work. The audience was very receptive and clapped as loud for them as they did for Devotchka.

Devotchka started slow. Both Dee Dee and I thought they sounded 'off'. Their normal energy and intensity was missing for the first 3/4 of the set. they finally pulled it together towards the end with decent covers of "The Man Who Sold the World" and "The House of the Rising Sun". They finished with rousing performance of "How it Ends" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRAI87PbX8c ) that had the crowd enthusiastically singing along.

All in all a nice night out, even if it went a bit late (do people really stay up till 11:30PM?).