Vetiver visited the Empty Bottle on Wednesday. It had been a surprisingly long time since my last visit; I was relieved to note that nothing had changed.

I happened to catch a large portion of the second opener, Robbie Hamilton, who showed potential but sounded muddled in an unforgiving venue such as the Empty Bottle. If I had to draw comparisons David Vandervelde would the first to come to mind which ain’t a bad thing but also not the hardest act to follow.

Andy Cabic singing

Back in May I was floored seeing Vetiver for the first time at the Chopin Theatre. Vetiver’s music has a subtle quality that a lot of bands would be hard pressed to pull off live. Vocals, riffs, harmonies—all sound just as good (if not better) live then they do on the albums. I was doubtful they could pull it off at a place like the Empty Bottle which is hardly known for its acoustics but I was pleasantly surprised.

They pulled out a least one new number but most of the material was familiar. Some memorable ones included “Everyday”, “More of This”, and “Another Reason to Go” from their most recent release along with “Maureen”, “Wishing Well”, “Blue Driver” and a well-suited encore of the traditional tune “Don’t Ease Me In” made famous by—and played in a similar style to—The Grateful Dead.

Vetiver on stage at the Empty Bottle

Love the grunge of the Empty Bottle

The Veils played their very first performance in Chicago on Sunday night at the Empty Bottle. Hailing from England by way of New Zealand, The Veils are built around front man Finn Andrews – matter of fact the remaining lineup of The Veils has been entirely revamped since their debut album Runaway Found was released in 2004. Their sound and Finn’s voice are reminiscent of the late Jeff Buckley, and perhaps also of Thom Yorke and Radiohead.

I have yet to find their latest album Nux Vomica [2006] and thus, was fairly unfamiliar with the material played at the show but I enjoyed the performance all the same. They did play ‘The Wild Son’ from Runaway Found towards the end of the show and an eloquent cover of the Bruce Springsteen song ‘State Trooper’.

Finn has a distinct and protean voice, able to morph it’s characteristics relative to the style of the song. Unfortunately, the Empty Bottle is the not the most tender of venues and the coloring of Finn’s vocals were difficult to find compared to what appears on record. I would put this down as a fault of the Empty Bottle and not Finn himself though, for he did get the crowd to quiet down for one number and his singing powers really showed.

Went with a ton of people to watch The Record Low play at the Empty Bottle Friday night. The posse included Curl-the-Head, Shark, my Bro, CJ, Ish, Bennie, Flood, CC, White Martin, Davis, Masood… I’m sure I’m forgetting someone but whatever. The show was great (although perhaps a bit short) and I’m looking forward to the album release next month. They got a great turnout for the show and I could see them becoming fairly successful. After the show we all headed over to Nick’s to close out the night… the last photo must of been taken somewhere towards the end of the night. I told you I’d give you props Bennie Boy…