Dateline Saturday, Feb. 13 >>>

You know what's lame? In multiple senses of the word? Lower back and hip pain. My point being that I wasn't able to stay at Hell's Kitchen as long as I ought Saturday night, and only managed to see Seattle's Otherwise. And that my brain is fairly disconnected this morning, so I feel it appropriate to subject you to disconnected writing.

As such, some thoughts on the evening...

I think I like the new Hell's Kitchen more than the old one, but I'm not sure yet. Seating and a bar in the same room as the stage is good. Fencing it off so the actual standing-room "pit" is about half as deep as it is wide is less so. Having played the old Hell's Kitchen a couple times over the years I'm pretty pleased to see bands able to store their gear next to the stage now, instead of the other end of the club. But with such clearly delineated walls and fences between bar-areas and show-areas, I wish they could have figured out how to make all-ages shows work at the new venue.

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Stereotypes influence reality, which reinforces stereotypes, which... and so on. There is a pervasive view among rock musicians that women don't rock out hard enough to make interesting drummers and lead guitarists. This leads to fewer women picking up the guitar or drums, which leads to... you get the picture. It's crap. Some women rock like hell. Stephanie Smith of Otherwise f#*@ing wails.

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Is it still funny to use any microphone availability as a potential chance to say "penis" at random? I thought we were over that.

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Taking a look at the MySpace page of Otherwise, I came across this quote: "The music is very song oriented." And thank goodness. If their music were cheeseburger-oriented they'd have a pretty confused and/or bored audience sitting around while the band chewed vigorously into the microphones.

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I don't know if it's because they are holding down a groove that puts them in the zone more than most, or what - but bass players always seem to be having more fun than everyone else. Singers are tied to microphones, and the harder they rock, the more drummers grimace. Bass players seem more inclined to bounce around like nuts. Nuts who are very happy to be there. Lane Patterson of Otherwise is no exception.

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Back to Stephanie Smith: She's also an excellent lead singer, though it doesn't often show. She is, frankly, not terrifically suited to harmonizing with co-vocalist Forry, or to the high piercing siren notes that she tends to whip out on most leads. These things aren't bad, per se, but they didn't feel quite right. Why became apparent toward the end of the set. I wish I knew titles for specificity, but they hit one song and Smith just cut loose with this rattling, forceful vocal. Not soaring, or sweet, but something on par with her guitar: wailing. And it was awesome. Do more of that, Stephanie Smith of Otherwise.

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Back in the days of This Shirt Is Pants, this one guy kept showing up at our Hell's Kitchen gigs. None of us knew him, but man did he love to air guitar. It's been three years or so, but I saw that guy again last night and it made me happy.

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Otherwise is a solid band. They play good songs, with obvious energy, and definite skill. And sometimes, when the bass player breaks a string, the frontman sings "Mahna Mahna" to cover. And I cannot - in good conscience - argue with that.

I'm going to go lay down now - then come back in a couple weeks for something that makes more sense. Maybe.