I won't say that I'm over Bishop Allen. The problems in their concert last night were too small for that. But there were problems. First, the sound mixing was sub-par; Bishop Allen is a vocals-intensive band and shouldn't have to strain to get their voices to carry over instruments hitting the red-lines. Second, they forgot some of their lyrics; forgivable, but when the band's only got one twelve-song album and has been on tour all winter, I expect better. They could've avoided this by working out a set list before-hand instead of figuring out what they were going to play as the drummer beat his sticks to start the song. Call that problem the third. Fourth, they were out of tune. I admire the intensity of an act that wants to go from one song to the next without stopping, but if their tuning suffers for it, they need to either get another guitar or slow down. Fifth was the maniac who rushed the stage during the last two songs. When the stage is only raised six inches off of the floor, that's going to cause trouble. He managed to take down one of the guitarists (who kept playing and singing, anyway), though he did help him up again.
Bishop Allen's real problem, though, was the loss of Bonnie Karin, who did vocals on their album and last tour. According to the website, Bonnie's been gone for a while. She was at the show, so I asked her about what happened. She said "I've got a great job. I'm in love and I've got a great job." Wonderful news for Bonnie, but the band suffers without her. The one remaining woman in the group, Christian Owens, is a good basist but can't sing strongly enough to hold her own with Christian Rudder and Justin Rice, the two male vocalists (Yes, the band has a girl Christian and a guy Christian).
Even with the above problems the group kept to its signature sound. They've captured some of the Golden Moments in rock - British Invasion's switch from riffing off of early American rock to making something new (it was in 1965) and the moment when someone realized you can do more with a synthesizer than make Disco (it was Devo, in 1977) - and made them their own. They've got the visual style down perfectly, in sweaters or jackets and ties (Justin looks like a cross between Roger Daltry and Doctor Who), too.
Bishop Allen's second album comes out this summer. If the production values on their first album, Charm School, are any indication they'll have solved a lot of the problems I had with their act last night and they'll have won me back. As it stands now, I still love 'em but I don't know that I want to go and see them play at The Tank again.
In other news, the opening acts were nothing special. The first was The Big Digits. Dan Proctor calls them "a cross between Judas Priest and the Beastie Boys," which is another way of saying "homoerotic white rap, handlebar mustache included." They were fun for the kitsch value. The second was The Five O'Clock Heroes. Dan gets it right when he says that "they're like '867-5309' turned into an entire band" (In other words: a one trick pony with a better-than-average trick). I wonder if their lead singer's really British or if he's only faking the accent to sound cool. There was supposed to be a third act, a guy named Shane Bartell, but unless he didn't play until after Bishop Allen (who ended at half-past midnight) and slipped from the minds of the other acts on stage, he just didn't go on. It's a pity; I like the samples he has up on his website.