After a short, but tiring session on campus Carleigh and I went to Community Cycles to see Black Dots open for a couple Chicago bands. It was pretty awesome that it was so low key at a bike shop and the Chicago bands had promise so we stuck around. Black Dots were great as usual, well, maybe even better. They seemed more rockin’ and lively on stage. We even got to hear a new song that killed it.

The second band was BUST! They had the fastest drummer I have ever seen. They played fast and energetic music and looked like they were having a blast. I couldn’t get enough of watching the drummer though, he seriously killed the drums.

And the drummer is clearly a huge fan of Max. Awesome!

The last band was called The Please & Thank Yous. They were also better than expected. Not as fast as Bust, but still rocking and awesome. They had their new album on cassette only. None of us have tape players. Ha. Thank you Black Dots for playing with all these awesome bands and exposing me to new stuff.

After some pizza at the Backcountry Pizza place most of Trick Factory went to Astroland to see Black Dots.  None of us had been there before.  Turns out that place rules.  Just a warehouse, BYOB, DIY steez.  Love it. I was feeling kinda sick so I went with some Ginger Ale with a bit of whiskey in it. Yum.

The first act was Lizzie Huffman. She was great. Like really great. Super mellow acoustic music with some revealing lyrics about relationships or drinking or both. Good stuff. I apparently didn’t take a great cell phone shot of the next act. It was a solo guy called Disorder maybe? He had some good crowd support.

At first glance it looked like the Brandow’s were grabbing pills from a bag. Turned out to be ear plugs.

Next up was a punk band from Pittsburgh called “Run, Forever”. They were super good. During the first song us old guys (and Carleigh) nodded to each other saying we liked it. There was a mosh pit going and us old guys were not in it. After the first song Brian announced “Votes are in, old guys like it!” I added, “But we’ll be in the back”. Maybe somebody laughed. These guys killed it though. Straight forward old school rock ‘n roll. They had t-shirts (no XL), patches, records and an amazing black/yellow minibus. Best of luck to that band.

Last up was Black Dots. John kept thanking everyone for staying out so late like it was a week night or something. It made me laugh. It’s saturday night! Whew! I have been listening to their cd a lot lately so this is their first show where I new most of the words. That added to the enjoyment of an already great show. And the Guided By Voices cover is always great. But the Neil Young song to close it down was the best I’ve heard them play it. So insane. When is that “In a Jar” cover coming guys? Ha. Great show.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that Astroland is my favorite venue in Colorado now. Host more shows please!