The Album Leaf + Black Mountain + Roots of Orchis + Mar Mar

It’s official: Gabe’s Oasis is an awful concert venue. At first, I thought it was just an honest oversight that they booked Minus Story during the University of Iowa’s spring break, but then they almost got into a fistfight with The Album Leaf last Saturday night because the show was running too late. Apparently, Gabe’s won’t allow bands to play past 1:55AM (in accordance with either a law or a Gabe’s Oasis policy), and, since Gabe’s booked four bands for the same night and didn’t start the show until 10PM, The Album Leaf couldn’t go on until about 1:15AM.

Expecting a band like The Album Leaf, who have a performance that involves choreographed video projections and a very cohesive setlist, to shorten their set (or alter it in any way) is offensive. They were the headlining act, after all, and no one told them ahead of time that they wouldn’t be able to play a full set.

Venue-related complications aside, though, I became a fan of The Album Leaf because of their performance. It was superb. Black Mountain, of whom I was already a fan, were also excellent. And Roots of Orchis and Mar Mar were also pretty good Album Leaf-type bands, but I could have done without seeing one of them if it would have meant seeing more of The Album Leaf themselves.

Actually, what probably should have happened is Black Mountain should have headlined their own show on a different night. The other three bands that played were relatively similar (although it’s easy enough to distinguish between them), and they would’ve made a good bill on their own. Black Mountain just didn’t fit with the rest of the acts, and someone should’ve known that.

I don’t know. Regardless, if you’re a band, try not to play at Gabe’s. Come to Grinnell instead.

P.S. I have a review of the Calvin Johnson show at Grinnell last week coming to PopMatters shortly.