David Vandervelde @ The Black Cat

GH and myself sauntered on down to U Street last night to catch a quadrupile bill at our formerly most hated club in town. Maybe the usual dillweed staffers were all seeing TV on the Radio at the 930 club or maybe they were just in a good mood because we had pleasant interactions with almost everyone - including the girl at the door who let us grab a couple posters off the wall. The good vibes didn't stop there, either. I went into the night genuinely interested in each of the four bands slated to play, which is a pretty rare occurrence. We ended up only catching a song and a half or so of the opener, Headlights, though I enjoyed it thoroughly. Their lead singer was a babe and they're from Champaign, IL - sorry about the Chief, guys! - so how could I not like them? Impossible, I know.

Up next were Page France with their infectious indie pop, repelete with xylophone interludes and tamborine shakedowns. I don't really recall too much of them now, except that they too had an attractive female member. Truth be told, as much as I wanted to focus on all the bands, I really came for one band and one band only: David Vandervelde and the Moonstation House Band.

Now, I know I've posted on Mr. Vandervelde before, so I'll spare you the bio information, but just let me say: he fuckin' rocks. Playing with what he calls the "Power Trio", they tore it up hard. They played most everything off their debut album, a few unreleased tracks, and - in what may possibly be the most rockist move ever - covered the Stones' "Cocksucker Blues". The unreleased Mick and Keith classic sounded pretty awesome and Vandervelde's extended soloing was on point. My favorite cut off their record, "Nothin' No", didn't quite do it for me in the live setting, though I thought "Feet of a Liar" and "Murder in Michigan" sounded great.

Why DV and the Moonstation House Band weren't the headliners I have no idea, but Richard Swift was up last. Knowing that he'd have trouble following the blistering set we had just seen, I decided to focus on sobering up and buying The Moonstation House Band on vinyl instead. I was successful on the latter, not so much on the former. Got the band to sign the album for me, which was cool and we also nabbed David's email addy, so there may be an interview feature in the works here at the Rockist Socety...stay tuned.


David Vandervelde and the Moonstation House Band: "Cocksucker Blues" (Daytrotter Sessions)