83 Feet, Malcontents
The Patio
Saturday, Nov. 6

There’s nothing like seeing a much-anticipated show, especially when the much-anticipated show ends up being as good as, well, anticipated. Unfortunately, Saturday night’s show at the Patio, featuring 83 Feet and The Malcontents, didn’t live up to the hype.

83 Feet played a set that seemed to drag on forever. From a technical standpoint, they were fine. They even had a different drummer sitting in, and he nailed the music. The spark just was not there … I wanted to crawl up on stage and take a nap behind the speakers. The set seemed slow and methodical, not particularly fun even for the band. Perhaps it was because of the new drummer; as good as he was, maybe the band felt the need to take it down a notch for the new guy. The highlight of the set was the tune, “I Hate,” which features the line, “I hate patchouli,” and goes on to denigrate hippies, the Grateful Dead and the like. It’s a funny song, and I really believe that the members of 83 Feet hate patchouli … it just seemed like they had bought into the laid-back patchouli vibe that they so disdain.

The Malcontents hopped, skipped and jumped around for their set, which seemed especially high-energy after the sluggish performance of 83 Feet. They looked like Teletubbies, or Smurfs, or some other creature that hops along. It was a bit silly, a bit forced, but at least the music lived up to the physical energy exuded by the band. The Malcontents even managed to knock out a tolerable version of “Radar Love,” which is a feat in and of itself.