Fujiya & Miyagi and School of Seven Bells at the 9:30 Club

Last Thursday I went to see Fujiya & Miyagi and School of Seven Bells at the 9:30 Club. This show was the first show in a stretch of up to 6 shows in 2 weeks. I was excited for this show because I had not seen a show at the 9:30 Club since seeing Of Montreal this past fall. Of the two bands playing, I was more familiar with Fujiya & Miyagi. I had heard them quite a bit over the last couple of years on KEXP (a great Seattle independent radio station that streams live at http://www.kexp.org/) and I recently acquired their latest album Lightbulbs (thanks Kate!). I knew of School of Seven Bells also through KEXP. I heard and liked one of their songs and I was hoping that the rest of their material was just as good.

Pre-Show Notes:

• I was finally able to have that pre-show meal at Ben's Chili Bowl. The fully loaded Chili Half-Smoke and Chili-Cheese Fries were absolutely delicious and horrible for me at the same time.
• Since the show was not a sell-out, the stage at the 9:30 Club seemed bigger and further into the crowd. I am not sure if this was done on purpose or if it was an optical illusion.
• I realized after I entered the show that I forgot my camera. My cell phone camera would have to do for pictures.
• I was able to get right in front, which allowed me to use part of the stage as a coat rack.

School of Seven Bells consists of former Secret Machines member and lead guitarist Benjamin Curtis, and twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, who play guitar and keyboards respectively. The Deheza sisters are also the vocalists, with Alejandra providing the lead vocals on most songs. School of Seven Bells, or SVIIB, came out on stage promptly and put on a great 8 song set including the songs "Wired For Light" and the cool closer "Sempiternal/Amaranth." Their sound is a modern take on the "shoegazing" movement of the late 80s and early 90s, with loud, fuzzy, and crunchy guitars mixed with dreamy and floating vocals. I came away from their set a fan and I look forward to seeing what this band will produce in the future. I made sure to pick up their debut album Alpinisms at the merchandise booth. The only negative from the set had nothing to do with SVIIB. Standing right behind me was a girl out with her boyfriend. They were constantly talking to one another instead of just enjoying the show and her laughter was very loud and annoying. If someone's laughter can be loud and annoying at a rock show then you know that person has a laughing problem.

Fujiya & Miyagi are an English band originally formed by keyboardist Steve Lewis and guitarist David Best in 2000. The band's name comes from the Fujiya brand of record players and the character Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies. Since its founding the band has added bass player Matt Hainsby and drummer Lee Adams. Their sound has been described as electronic or "Krautrock." I prefer to think of the band as dance rock. In fact, you probably have already heard part of their song "Collarbone" since it was used in a Miller Lite commercial. Fujiya & Miyagi's beats are infectious and it is hard not to start moving to their hooks and simple, repetitive, and catchy lyrics. A good sign of Fujiya & Miyagi's ability to get people moving was the fact that the usually stoic DC crowd was definitely starting to get down as the show progressed. Fujiya & Miyagi, aided by a very cool video screen showing multi-colored dice forming images, played a great 13 song set with the songs "Ankle Injuries," "Pussyfooting," "Knickerbocker," and the previously menioned "Collarbone" as standouts. After a very brief interlude (literally it was less than a minute), the band came back on stage to play a cool 2 song encore. Overall, a really good show and I had a great time moving to the sound. Of course I had to get one of their tour shirts as well as one of their previous albums Transparent Things at the merchandise booth. I am such a junkie.