With turn out last Thursday at Milk being quite impressive, kudos should be thrown in the direction of Epic Sauce for putting together a great show. The crowd was thick and all ears were open, and though (much to everyone’s chagrin) the drink specials ran out in all of about 5 minutes, there was for the most part a good night of music to be had in the Haight.
Silian Rail were the first up laying down there minimalist post-rock. I’ve seen Silian Rail a few times, and while I like their music on a fundamental level I’m usually left wanting more by the end of their sets. There is something of an oxymoron in minimalist post-rock as that style in many ways demands an orchestra. There is always a certain amount of tension in the give and take of instruments in any particular post-rock song — when split between several instruments there is fascinating power relationship to listen for, but with just the two it becomes more of a fight for one to be heard over the other. These two talented musicians are making interesting music, but if they fleshed out their sound with more bodies on stage they could take their music from intriguing to downright compelling.
White Cloud came up next, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen them. They seem to have shed most of their garage-rock elements and replaced them with reverb-drenched psyche. Still just as fascinating to listen to, White Cloud’s wall of sound hit the crowd like a tsunami. Nabbing little snippets of unique tones, I sat in the incredibly dim light and swam through their layers of echoing sounds.
French Miami closed out the night and were everything you would expect. Playing their math-rock influenced dance-punk, they hammered away squealing guitar lines over synth sounds and heavily hit drums. Playing mostly from their last record, we were lucky enough to catch a couple of new tunes. It would seem they have a new record coming out this summer, anticipation abound.
Minus the almost immediate disappearance of cheap drinks, Epic Sauce put together quite a good show. This is the first in a weekly series from them so keep an eye on their site for future gigs and if you can make it, head up to Milk next Thursday for the next show.
–Words and Photos by Ada Lann