Don Russian - Duke O'Brien's 5.18.07

Man, did I hear a great band last night. Although I could only hang out for about an hour there to see them, I heard some very inspired and well-performed music. They were more alternative oriented so I didn't recognize everything they were doing but they did a good version of I Think I'm Alone Now and I heard some original material that was just damned good. They consist of a guitar player doubling on a little Korg keyboard, two other guitarists, a bassist and a drummer. I know the drummer was frustrated all night because his drum set was walking away from him. But anyway, these guys were fun to listen to, very into what they were doing up there, and just plain entertaining. For a relatively young band, I was very impressed and you need to check these guys out. There was some good playing; not mind-blowing but solid. I think it may be Don (?) playing the Firebird and the Gibson Firebird is one of my favorite guitars. That alone is excellent. What I think was great about them was the sound textures they were pulling out between the arrangement and the choice of what notes which instruments were playing (again, arrangement). I really liked these subtleties but I'm not sure the audience caught it consciously. However, I know how hard these guys probably worked on this and it was a very conscious effort to get these sound textures on their part. Anyway, They are a very good band to check out especially if you'd like a break from all of the classic rock everyone else does. http://www.myspace.com/donrussian