British Sea Power and Film School

On Saturday I went to a show at a local club featuring a local opener, Film School and British Sea Power. I went for BSP, because I really like their Open Season CD, particularly "It Ended On An Oily Stage." BSP didn't play much from that CD, focusing more on the new release "Do You Like Rock Music?" That CD is okay...it's better live than in studio. In my view, though, it doesn't have the British sound that I liked on Open Season. Interestingly, BSP is fairly subdued playing their set, but at the end, they went crazy for 1/2 an hour, throwing guitars, smashing everything, picking each other up, screaming, wailing on guitars...all like a punk act. I found it interesting for five minutes. And then, eardrums bleeding at 2 a.m. I thought, why am I paying for these guys to enjoy themselves on stage, when they aren't actually "creating" anything for the audience. Just not my thing, I guess. The surprise was Film School. This is a revamped version of the band. According to the keyboard player (Jason), only Jason and the lead singer Greg are original members. The lead guitarist (Dave), drummer (James) and bass player (Lorelei, who is very attractive guys) recently joined the band. You'd never know it, though. They were sharp and energetic, with subdued dream pop vocals, but heavy guitar thrashes. There's a lesson in live music here. You've got a hot group like BSP, that everyone turns out to see (sea?) and you end up finding something new. In fact, after the energetic Film School set, BSP seemed tame...at least until the self-indulgent madness at the end. Their run with BSP is coming to an end in the Southern leg of BSP's tour, but Jason said the band decided to continue touring on its own while it has momentum. Highly recommended. See their MySpace page for tour dates.