The Untold City Throws One Hell of a Birthday Bash

Date of show: August 5, 2010
Shots of choice:
The Darcys – Jameson
Hollerado – Jameson

This is not a review, as it does not really seem appropriate to review a birthday party. Instead, let’s just call this a recap.

It was Aaron Miller’s birthday and he set up a great bill to celebrate at The Boat with Clothes Make the Man, The Darcys and Hollerado. It was an impressive bill, but it proved to be a lot more interesting as the plan was a night of covers. Can you think of a better way to celebrate your birthday?

Clothes Make the Man took the stage and performed a full set of covers, touching upon various artists. I personally loved Jimmy Eat World’s “Bleed American,” but what can I say… I’m a big Jimmy fan. I wasn’t right up front, so I didn’t catch this and it was so kindly pointed out to me by Amanda… the set list was on guitarist Scott Henry’s shirt! Clever, boys. [Corrected]

Second to perform, The Darcys were faithful to the Constantines and were completely on point. There were some singing along, but I think the crowd would’ve loved them regardless of what they played. They had an impressive gathering at the stage and Jason Couse’s voice, along with harmonies from Mike le Riche, is enough to capture attention, but I assure you that the whole band exudes talent. Faithful to our blog name, we bought the band shots. Drummer Wes Marskell rounded up the troupes, including birthday boy Aaron Miller. I had actually met Jason and Dave Hurlow (bass) before their set. Dave had said to me, “We like shots twice as much as any other band, so you should buy us two.” It was cheeky and I liked it, but my response was that I couldn’t promise anything. Dave’s follow up was, “You don’t have to promise anything… you just have to do it.” Sounded like trouble, but the boys in The Darcys were very grateful for the shots. They’re great guys and seemed to think we were looking for an interview, but we were seriously just looking to buy them shots. Next time you see them, be sure to buy them a shot. You’ll want to after you hear them play, I promise.

When you want a party set, you call Hollerado. That’s just what you do. If there’s any band that can get everyone jumping and the ground to shake, it’s them. Starting off by leading the crowd in an out-of-key “Happy Birthday,” the boys set the tone for a great set. Although they didn’t exactly comply with Aaron’s request for a set of covers, they did manage to get four in, including their popular version of “Surfin’ Bird.” These guys bring the stage antics, especially when you throw friends in other bands, such as Dinosaur Bones, into the mix. Menno Versteeg (vocals, guitar) is always jumping around, including off the drums. At one point during “Juliette” Nixon Boyd (guitar, vocals) was on the shoulders of Dinosaur Bones‘ Branko Scekic. Menno was in the crowd a lot during “Do The Doot Da Doot Do” and their cover of ‘Sabotage.’ He was even hoisted into the crowd for a little surfing. The boys, of course, invited their friends on stage. Branko was invited on stage to freestyle and even more friends joined them on stage for “Sabotage,” the song that ended their set.

I think it’s important to note that we really wanted to start our blog with this event. Hollerado is part of our story and it’s fitting that we kicked off our blog with a birthday party and a solid Hollerado set.

Thanks The Untold City for a great night! Hope you enjoyed the shot. 😉