Local H in Anchorage

Second consecutive week I got to see a concert in Anchorage. As many of you know, I'm a rather large fan of concerts and being able to see a show in Anchorage is just fantastic for me. Last weekend it was Colin Hay, this weekend Local H, and coming up I have Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Matisyahu, Portugal. the Man, Cake, and Rodrigo y Gabriela. Yay for Alaska and their burgeoning outside of Alaska musician scene!!!

No less, last night's show was a good one, with local heroes Jeb opening the show a wonderful hour and forty five minutes after the show was supposed to begin. Hooray for timeliness! Once the show began though, it rocked hard. Jeb is a three piece group who I could best describe as technical rockers with classic rock roots. I quite enjoyed them and look forward to seeing them in the future, as well as other local bands because Jeb gave me a lot of hope for the local music community here. Here is a pic of the lead singer of Jeb, the future leader of many a pit during Local H...

Up after their set was the headliners of the evening, 90's hitmakers and infamously loud rock outfit Local H. They were but a duo of men, but they made music that was louder than anyone could possibly imagine from just two men. In fact, their instruments were so loud, you could hardly hear the vocals, or at least from the front row area I was. The odd thing was, from a distance (outside where you could get air that is) they sounded perfect. No less, they ripped through song after song with no real talking breaks or anything like that, just straight up rock. And they did, playing old favorites like Bound for the Floor and Eddie Vedder while mixing in new stuff and even a Ramones' cover in celebration of Joey Ramone's birthday.

All in all, they played an awesome set, albeit an overly empty one for me as I'm just not a huge fan of the band. They certainly did what they do very well, as no one there left without a nice chunk of rock embedded in them. They inspired some pretty entertaining circle pits, albeit bizarre ones because their version of rock strangely inspired more groove in my shoes than the desire to kick people with them, although maybe that's just me. Here are some pics of Local H...

All in all it was a good time, a good show, and a good night. Drank some good beer with Colver, saw a cool show, and ended the night way differently than I expected. But that's another story for another time.

Also, a tragedy struck my former hometown of Moscow, Idaho today, with good friends Erik and Katie being caught in the middle of it. See this link to listen to Erik's interview on KREM 2 News, Spokane to hear more about it from an up close perspective. I guess I got out when the getting was good...