Going into this show, I really wasn't very familiar with Restorations. I knew they were from Philadelphia and a Punknews favorite, but that was about the extent of it. From what little of their music I'd heard, I didn't think they were terrible. (High praise, I know.) I was even less familiar with creepoid. I knew that they had a female singer and that their music was, well, creepy. The show was on Thursday, March 31st, at The Stache, which is the smaller front room at The Intersection in downtown Grand Rapids. (On this night, Silverstein was playing to 500 people in the main room.) I usually try to get out and have a couple of beers on Thursday night anyway, and the tickets were cheap. We're talking less than the price of a movie (although the additional cost of the previously mentioned beer would raise the overall cost considerably). It just seemed like a good chance to try to expand my musical horizons. (Which is no small feat at my age.)

The biggest draw of the night for me was actually the opener, Ontario's The Dirty Nil. A certain Managing Editor (who shall remain nameless) has been shamelessly promoting this band for so long that I'd given up on trying to fight the hype. It didn't hurt that the band's recently released debut, full length, *Higher Power*, had been getting nearly universal praise. The Nil (as they're known to pretentious Canadian insiders) started at 7:00 pm sharp. Unfortunately, I was still finishing my delicious but unhealthy dinner across the street. I got there in time to join the 20 or so other people and catch half of the trio's thirty minute set. I've got to say, I was pretty impressed. The songs ranged from mid-tempo, bluesy garage jams, to straight up blasts of punk fury. The band was new to most of us, but there were two guys up front singing along at the top of their lungs. The bass player and drummer looked like cool punk guys, but the guitar player/primary singer was a different story. His jeans didn't quite reach all the way down to his white socks and white Converse. His button up shirt was too tight and he had a boyish, Jimmy Fallon-esque grin. He was all arms and legs while he flailed around the stage doing an awkward dance. The Dirty Nil sounded great and I finally picked up a copy of *Higher Power*.

I soon learned that creepoid was a quartet and also from Philly. The female bass player and one of the male guitar players traded off on lead vocals. The male singer's voic reminded me a little bit of John Doe, and when the two sang together it was sometimes reminiscent of X. They ran the smoke machines almost the entire time they played, which helped to lend an eerie atmosphere to the already ethereal sound. The music was mostly shoegaze (think The Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine) with a pop sensibility. I kept thinking that these guys (and girl) would have been very popular at Lollapalooza in about 1993. The songs were mostly slow and dreamy, but they wrapped up their forty minute set with a noisy, extended jam. It included the bassist rolling on her back and thumping away like a stuck turtle. The other singer used his vocal mike as a guitar slide. It was pretty entertaining. creepoid is not my normal listening, but I enjoyed it. I also spent some time ogling their (mostly) vintage Fender and Gibson guitars. This was a running theme for me throughout the evening. (The dude from The Dirty Nil even had one of those cool, clear acrylic Dan Armstrong Ampeg guitars that you don't see too much anymore.)

I was a little wary of Restorations as I watched them set up. They had a keyboard, the least punk instrument of all. They looked like teachers or mechanics or maybe dentists. They used capos on their classic electric guitars, which is also not very punk. From the start, it was pretty obvious that the five of them were talented musicians. There was lots of noodling in the mostly mid-tempo songs about flannel, friendship, heartache, and whiskey. They sort of had some of the gritty earnestness of The Boss/The Gaslight Anthem. The more aggressive songs might have gotten close to mellow Hot Water Music territory. The crowd never seemed to get beyond about 50 people, but many of them seemed to know every word. Once again, I mostly enjoyed Restorations' fifty-three minute set. Overall, the whole show was a pleasant weeknight diversion. Plus, it was over at 9:37 pm which gave us plenty of time to go back across the street and have a couple more cheap tallboys. For the record, I also got a chance to listen to that Dirty Nil album and it rips!