Two nights ago I saw another show at Northsix. In order the bands were the High Water Marks, Apollo Sunshine, and the Apples In Stereo.

The High Water Marks' drummer was a dead ringer for Everclear's Art Alexakis, but my photos of them turned out terribly.

Apollo Sunshine's drummer bore a passing resemblance to Noah Wyle, and my pictures of them turned out okay.

The Apples' drummer looked like no one so much as Hilarie Sydney, who she happens to be, and my pictures of them turned out quite well.

I mistook Apollo Sunshine for the Sunshine Fix before the show, and I think Apollo Sunshine wins for having the sunniest band name ever. They appeared to be a young band, and they were very, very good. They had more instruments than I've ever seen from a band of their ilk (4 guys, and young). The singer played a couple of keyboards, a bass, a ukelele, and a double-necked guitar/bass combo; the guitarist also played slide guitar and had a uke of his own; the drummer had a pretty standard setup, and then they had a guy who played a huge vibraphone and had a bunch of percussion odds and ends. But more importantly, they used all of these instruments extremely effectively, even when switching between them in the middle of a song. Their stage presence owed a significant debt to that of the Flaming Lips--they extended the strobe-light-around-the-neck thing to have three members of the band wearing them, plus a camera being projected onto a big screen was put right in front of another one, for a whole lotta strobin'. They also used the camera and projector for some crazy video feedback effects. Their music was not devoid of that influence, but it was good enough that it did not really matter. They had the earnest, surreal storytelling lyrics. Most of the songs shifted wildly in every respect, and the melodies were very complex yet powerful. Unfortunately their vibraphonist was a bit underappreciated, because he just couldn't compete in volume with the drums and the fuzz bass. The guitarist was a bit of a showoff, but it can be forgiven. Incredible potential for these guys.

The Apples in Stereo played a spartan show in just about every way. The stage was lit no more brightly than the audience. No fancy gizmos or stage props for them. They flatly denied requests, even from members of the opening bands. To my delight, they played "Seems So," saying that they had gotten really sick of it for a while but now they liked it again. At one point a guy requested the song "Allright/Not Quite," to which Robert Schneider cheerfully responded "that's right, we're not going to play it." This exchange was repeated about 3 times, until the fan gave up.

Here's one picture of Apollo Sunshine:

and one of the Apples:

My only complaint: when will sound engineers figure out the technology necessary to have someone other than the "lead singer" of a band sing a song on their own? Every time a band tries this, the occasional singer's voice ends up totally buried. Do the engineers just sit back and take a nap once the set starts? Lazy bastards.