Merge/Sub Pop Day Party
Pok-e-Jo’s, Friday, March 17
There’s nothing like waking up on a cloudy day to horns, masks, and free beer. New Zealand sixpiece the Brunettes are Sub Pop’s version of Architecture in Helsinki – nothing but smiles and good times. San Francisco’s Kelley Stoltz kept to the Sixties path, bringing his indie rock from Below the Branches to just above the trees with a hint of healthy cynicism. By the time a bearded Band of Horses took to the riser, the PA was in rough shape and the lead mic took on a mind of it’s own. Ben Bridwell took everything in stride, so their orchestral indie rock flowed. Merge’s Essex Green followed suit, bringing a poppier dose of indie malaise from Brooklyn – a little gallop and a lot of bounce. When hometown hero and AMA sweeper Britt Daniel stepped up with only an acoustic, he was all grins. Who can blame him? Tens of thousands of screaming fans at Auditorium Shores on Thursday night will boost anyone’s confidence. After only four songs, among them a delicious “I Summon You” and a bouncy “Everything Hits at Once,” the Spoonman graciously left the stage in the hands of Glasgow’s Camera Obscura, who whipped up a melodramatic pop mix with the help of a cutesy frontwoman and a trumpet. Nice and easy.This article appears in March 17 • 2006.