Nickel Creek, Pittsburgh 10/19/04

[Bob Lentil]

I don't know if anybody here besides me likes Nickel Creek, but I'm going to subject those who were foolish enough to enter to a brief concert review.

Nickel Creek performed last night at The World in Pittsburgh (formerly known as the Rosebud). I'd seen King's X at the Rosebud a couple times, and while the venue looked the same, the crowd certainly didn't. Apparently underestimating Nickel Creek's popularity, I was suprised to see a long line of people waiting at the doors over an hour before showtime (something that doesn't seem to happen at King's X shows unfortunately). Also startling to me was the presence of females. I'm used to attending concerts where males outnumber females at least 5:1, with most of those females being dragged against their will by a significant other. In addition, the crowd seemed very young. I'm used to being one of the younger people in the crowd, but everybody there seemed to be around my age (23).

David Berkeley opened the show, performing a Dave Matthewsesque brand of solo acoustic guitar pop. It was pleasant enough to listen to, but I didn't find it very interesting.

Next came coheadliner Howie Day. I found his technical performance more interesting than the music itself. He performed by himself, but looped different parts on top of one another, rapping on his guitar to form a drum beat, laying down a bass line, and layering a few guitar and vocal parts over top. It was quite fun to watch him solitarily perform music that sounded like it was meant for a full band. Beyond the novelty, however, I didn't find him that engaging.

Nickel Creek then followed. The band was almost perfect, except for Sara Watkins, who seemed to be having trouble on vocals at the beginning of the set. She got better as the night went on though. For those who don't know, Nickel Creek specializes in a brand of highly technical melodic pop-bluegrass (with some classical, jazz, and rock influences thrown in). Unfortunately, I found myself unable to enjoy the half of the set like I should have, as a pair of extremely rude people decided that they would wedge themselves in front of me after I had been diligently standing in a very good spot through two acts I wasn't very interested in just to see Nickel Creek. Foolishly, I found myself brooding angrily through the first half of the set while I stared at some woman's wiry hair inches away from my face. Thankfully, she finally left to get a drink, and when she tried to return I ignored her existence and didn't budge. She still ended getting a good spot in my general vicinity, which made me angry as well. In my opinion, If you leave your spot at a general admission show for any reason, you do not have the right to bump your way through the crowd and reclaim it. If you want a good spot, you should earn it by showing up early and sticking it out through dry throats, full bladders, sore feet, and the like. To get back on topic, Nickel Creek was in excellent form. They play some pretty tricky music, that's really fun to watch live. They also pull there material from a lot of different sources besides their albums, so it's fun to see what's coming up next. If anybody has a chance to check them out, I highly recommend taking it.

Does anybody else have any thoughts on these guys? I'd love to here your opinions.

I've never heard of them but it sounds interesting.

Sorry you had to put up with those idiots standing in front of you. I go to a lot of "smaller" all standing gigs too and this has been a constant problem. I tend to go and stand near the back these days for the very reasons you say. 1) I ALWAYS need a drink, 2) At my age (48 and a lot) full bladders aren't an option they have to be attended to, and 3) I have to keep moving or I'd seize up. Luckily no-one's ever heard of most of the bands I go to see so it's not often that much of a problem.

Glad to hear you still enjoyed it for the most part.