Sincerest Apologies: The content I captured of this event is pretty much horrendous and unlistenable, my cell phone sucks! I flew solo yet again, because our trusty co-founder Isaac was abducted by three magnificently shaped and very voluptuous female body builders and forced to gently rub luminous bronzer all over them. Plus, I was too lazy to swing by his house and grab his awesome live clip machine.
I have had the Washed Out show marked on my calendar for some time now. Throughout this month-long concert marathon this show had stayed on my radar for some weird reason. I had been checking out live clips of the band and been giving their latest album Within and Without some serious rotation to get myself pumped up for thew show.
The reason I have been putting so much time and energy into this upcoming show is that Washed Out is a band I really want to like, but have not quite figured out how to truly enjoy yet. They’ve got all of my favorite elements, reverby glossed out sunset sounds combined with interesting beats and compositions, a perfect cocktail for a a music obsession. But there is something that is just not quite there, so I figured by going to their concert and having the electronic compositions turned into live instrumentation, I would finally be converted.
Upon arriving to the venue Saturday night I was surprised to discover that the show was sold out and obviously I hadn’t pre-purchased my ticket. I was at once disappointed and also relieved. Disappointed
because of the thought of missing out on my possible conversion to devote Washed Out fan and relieved for the fact that I might not have to deal with the extremely packed Urban Lounge and the undoubtedly obnoxious crowd contained inside. But luckily, and somewhat unfortunately I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy that has the hook with all the local promoters in town and he was able to get me on the guest list at the last-minute (it’s cool no big deal…).
I entered in the middle of opener Memoryhouse’s set (also, as usual). This band is a ten times cooler yet more somber and mellow 
version of She & Him with a lot more atmosphere and sincerity. The trio were able to set the mood appropriately for the headliner. I guess I was lucky to see the band at all because, apparently some horrible bastards had broken into their van and stole a lot of their gear. However the band was able to recover and continue on the tour because of the donations of fans (sometimes people are awesome when they’re not stealing stuff out of other people’s vehicles).
Did I mention the place was jammed freakin packed! I spent the time during sets trying to track down a view where I could adequately see
the drummer and the bass player at the same time, an impossible task due to my lack of height. Washed Out took the stage very casually, the four-piece band just wandered on up and began playing with little emotion, which must have been hard as their was a pretty decent crowd of folks hooting and hollering for the chillwave action to take them over. Their lack of stage presence was not a bad thing though and fit the serene sound and vibe perfectly. The performance also included a dazzling technicolor light show and super solid low-end sound mix that really helped keep the energy up and the crowd enticed.
Mastermind Ernest Greeene moved when he needed and bugged out a bit when he felt it was absolutely necessary; while, the female keyboardist (which may or may not be Blair Sexton Greene, wife of the aforementioned Ernest) did her best not to change her placid looking
facial expression. The rhythm section was the exact opposite the drummer and the bass player were really getting into the grooves and doing it big, these two dudes were awesome. The band proficiently nailed each song throughout the set that consisted mostly of songs from Within and Without, but also hit on a few of the older tunes from Life of Leisure.
Overall, I am glad that Mr. Greene has graduated his live show to include an actual band and not just a laptop, but I think it would be better for the band to get into the performance a little more. After witnessing their performance my conversion to devote and totally obsessed Washed Out fan was not accomplished. I did; however, very casually and unemotionally inch ever so closer to possibly putting in my application to run for president of the Washed Out fan club. I’m still thinking about it…
Special Shoutout: to Ho Ho for the ticket hook up, I love ya pimp!