#midnight pine

BØRNS + Midnight Pine at Birch Aquarium 5-18-16

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to one of the Green Flash concerts at the Birch Aquarium, but when I saw that San Diego’s own Midnight Pine was playing, I snapped up a couple of tickets for myself and my wife.  As the evening went on I was reminded of what I loved, and didn’t love, about the venue.  It is a gorgeous setting at the aquarium’s outdoor patio/tide pool area with a broad view of La Jolla and the pacific ocean.  The atmosphere and location seems to put everyone in a really relaxed, chill mood.

Unfortunately, after a decade of holding these events the organizers still fall short in a few key areas.  They oversell tickets so on a sellout like last night it became uncomfortably crowded, especially considering the awkward shape of the space available. Also, and I’m not really a picky person, but the food, which is provided by Rock Bottom Brewery, is only average at best.  The last issue I have is that, for an event that is sponsored by a beer company, they make it really difficult to buy a beer.  And while the beer is excellent, there is only one spot available and the line is daunting.  Shoot, even when we used to have keg parties back in college we knew to set up at least two different beer stations!

Even with those issues it’s still a great venue and I’ll put up with some hassle as long as the music is as good as it was last night.  First up was The Midnight Pine, who turned in another impressive show. Except for some glitch with the bass in one song, the sound was fantastic in the open air setting and singer Shelbi Bennett‘s voice was strong, clear and floated perfectly above the mix.

This is the third time that I’ve caught The Midnight Pine this year, in three completely different settings (the swanky Music Box, a street-side fair in Oceanside, and here) and their performance was superb each time. The combination of the Redwoods Music band, Al Howard‘s words, and Shelbi Bennett’s voice and stage presence, creates a sound and feeling that, like the ocean the stage overlooked, is at times restrained and at other moments powerful.

Here’s a clip from a new song called, “Mockingbird”, which Shelbi said will be on their forthcoming new album.

It turns out that I was smart to get my tix early for this show  because it’s been sold out for a while.  At the time I got them I had never heard of BØRNS, but it turns out that he is pretty popular.  Actually, judging by how enthusiastic the girls behind us were as they sang every word to every song (as loud as they could), he might be more than just pretty popular.  Apparently the buzz has been growing around BØRNS for a while now and then went into overdrive after a couple of well-received Coachella performances.

BØRNS came out looking like a modern-day Marc Bolan, with a wild main of dark hair, high-waist jeans, and a crop-top black t-shirt under a too small leather jacket.  This look seemed to match his style of music, which went from  psychedelic and dreamy to a glam-rock stomp à la T-Rex or Slade.  The songs, which were a real blend of both guitar-rock and electro-pop,  often featured big hooks and plenty of sing along choruses that the crowd was more than happy to cooperate with.   BØRNS, who was accompanied by an excellent 4-piece backing band, seemed to be genuinely inspired by the setting and really wanted to share this feeling with the audience.

Redwoods Revue – The Music Box – 4/1/16

I’m sure there are a lot of great local music scenes spread throughout the country with talented, creative and ambitious musicians playing in bands to crowds large and small. But there seems to be something special going on in San Diego right now as the number of worthwhile bands that can be found across stages throughout our county is truly impressive.  On almost any particular night there is a group worth checking out somewhere: from the Soda Bar in North Park to the Casbah in Little Italy to the Pour House in Oceanside

This was never more apparent than at the Music Box on April 1st when the Redwoods Revue II took over the swanky downtown venue.  On this night Al Howard and the gang at Redwoods Music put on a show with five acts from their roster: Cardinal Moon, Dani Belle & the Tarantist, Birdy Bardot, The Midnight Pine and Rebecca Jade & the Cold Fact.  I’ve seen a lot of local bands at a bunch of different venues but I’d always wondered what they would look and sound like on a bigger stage with a superior sound system and top-notch lighting.  Now I know.  They look and sound awesome!

Mad Mackerel Recommends… The Midnight Pine

The Midnight Pine have just released their second album, Buried.

It is a collection of gorgeously evocative and restrained psych-tinged folk that uses sparse, eerie instrumentation to showcase the haunting, beautiful vocals of Shelbi Bennett.

In fact, to keep the focus on her vocals,  there are no drums, just found objects, chains, saw blades, sheet metal, utensils and short wave radios, which…

Alfred of The Midnight Pine. He plays a series of homemade percussion instruments, such as a table saw blade and bells attached to a kick drum pedal.