Holiday & The Adventure Pop Collective Live at the Liar's Club
We live in a world of such differing opinions and combativeness that it is difficult to enthusiastically endorse any given thing to people. Putting it out there that you enjoy something, or are a fan of something, is tantamount to an invitation to people to find fault with it. Thus, in the past five years, I have endorsed only two things which I felt were bulletproof enough to really stake my reputation on them. The first was the 2001 release of the Stroke's "Is This It?" Three and a half years later, in April of 2005, I directed a large group of my friends towards the "Le Village Buffet" in the Paris Casino in Las Vegas by declaring it good enough to stake my reputation on. And now, eight months after that event, I offer up a third recomemndation that I feel confident enough to stand behind in the face of all criticism.
That recommendation is this: if you find yourself in a raucous bar, drinking delicious beers and eating good food on a warm Sunday afternoon in the middle of February when your friends and family back home on the East coast are buried under half a foot of snow, there will be no finer music to your ears than that of Holiday and The Adventure Pop Collective. Granted, this recommendation has a few conditions applied towards it, but like I said before, I don't just dole out stuff like this all the time.
For a review of the show and pictures click below...
We caught the band at the Liar's Club, which is widely regarded as the best bar in San Diego. Their beer selection, food and prices cannot be beat, and they are routinely honored in readers polls as having the best jukebox in San Diego. The jukebox debate is fodder for another lengthy article, so we'll address that in more detail later. Anyways, the LC celebrated their sixth anniversary this weekend, and while we were eager to join in the celebration, we approached it was a bit of trepidation. Talking with some friendly strangers at a bonfire on Saturday evening, they revealed that they had been at the Liar's Club for Friday's happy hour, before being driven out, along with half of the crowd, by the incredibly noisy punk band that was playing. I was curious if maybe these people just couldn't take the heat, but they said that people yelling "Turn it Down!" and filing out of the bar in droves. The Liar's Club is a small enough place that I could see this as being true, so we weren't really sure what to expect on Sunday.
When we walked in, we were happy to see that the band was far from the noisy, screaming debacle we feared. We had a guy playing an old fashioned Hank Williams looking Guitar, a drummer and a violinist.
The first song was an sped up hoedown that was full of energy and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Throughout the course of the afternoon, Holiday and the Adventure Pop Collective played a style of music as diverse as their instrument lineup, which includes the previously mentioned guitar and violin, but also a trumpet, keys and the kicker for me - a tuba:
I'm not going to lie. Seeing the tuba got me pretty excited. The tuba just adds a unique element to a concert. It's hard to really put into words, but it's similar to walking into a party and seeing a really huge fat guy carrying on an animated conversation in one of the corners. The whole time you're they're you'll be looking over in his direction, hoping you get a chance to run into him again. It's a relaxing, good natured instrument, that also has a unique sound that really helps this band stand out. It doesn't hurt that the tuba-ist, Derric Oliver, marched throughout the bar while playing, even leading a train of revelers out the back door and in through the front at one point in time. Anytime THAT happens, you know you are having a good time.
At one point in time, violinist Louis Caverly's bow broke, causing him to finish up the session on the keyboards. The band played unique renditions of "Heart of Glass" and "Fire on the Mountain," frequently switching instruments mid song. Both Caverly and Oliver sing, and Caverly has a voice that was reminscent of the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle. The music allowed plenty of time for improvisation and soloing, and the different instruments allowed this to never become repetitive or lose energy. Occasionally the band would record a sample of a groove on a spot and loop it through the rest of the performance, allowing them to take on the sound of a band with several additional members. At one point in time, Oliver announced that their next album would be a concept album about what would happen if the Greek God's came to the American Old West. Though this sounds like the sort of material that a Network Sitcom would tackled before being cancelled after two episodes, I'm sure that in more competent hands it will turn out musically sound.
After the show the band joined 91X's Al Guerra to broadcast the local music program Loudspeaker from the Liar's Club porch. Both Oliver and Caverly are from the area, and the band is currently touring across the west. They return to San Diego on March 24th to play a free show at the Whistle Stop. The promotional postcard is shown at the top of this entry. I purchased a copy of their CD "Become" at the show, upon which Derric told me that the content is also available streaming for free on the band's website, www.adventurepop.com
So I guess I just staked my reputation on a recommendation for the third time in five years. We shall see on March 24th whether the band can replicate the energy and enthusiasm of the Liar's Club show. Personally, I'd bet a dinner at the Paris Buffet on it.
Holiday and The Adventure Pop Collective play at the Whistle Stop in South Park on Friday March 24th. Their CD, Become, is available at their website: www.adventurepop.com
