Evangelicals/Headlights/We Were Pirates @ Iota

G.H., a TRS VIP and I went to Iota last Thursday to check out these bands. I went mainly for Headlights, not expecting much out of the others.

Two words for Death Cab (ahem!), I mean We Were Pirates: bop verse? Seriously? I don't know much about this band going into it (actually, nothing) and have no desire to know any more going out.

After what seemed to be a half hour of sound checks, Headlights finally started playing. They opened with my two favorite songs off of their newest album, Some Racing, Some Stopping. "Get Your Head Around It" and "Market Girl" are almost perfect indie-pop songs. The former consisting of soft verses and chorus, a powerful bridge of "bah bah bahs," and a sudden soft ending. Remember that sound check? Normally in such a small place a long sound check between bands is unnecessary, but thank God for it. When you have a song that's one big controlled reverb, the sound needs to be perfect, and it was quite close to that. "I Love You Laugh" separated what turned out to be two upbeat pop sections of their set. Rounding down the set with "Cherry Tulips," Nick Sanborn dropped his bass to wield the accordion I was eying all night long. Can't remember what song they actually played, but it was good.

When Evangelicals went on stage, I really didn't want to like them. Who asks for more and more reverb? Covered in Day-Glo and requesting their own lights, these Omahanians rocked so hard, they blew a fuse. The most memorable song of the show was "Party Crashing," which, at the show, I thought was 3 different songs, but apparently not. Highly entertaining show. I was laughing most of the time, mainly at the band's demeanor.