Concert Recap: "Candy Claws" at Hi Dive

I love Hidden Lands, the new Candy Claws album. I love letting it spin slowly on my record player when I need to completely zone out. Its sounds are defined by their ability to transport the listener to otherworldly places like mystic rain forests and alpine lakes. My favorite concerts are defined by guitar-heavy danceability. Because this is far from Candy Claws palette and my worries about sound mesh, I did not expect sweaty gratification when Lizzie and I set out for the Hi Dive last night.

Truthfully, I was prime for a great experience. Not only did I have low expectations, I had spent several hours oiling up with Stone IPA and Fat Sully's Pizza and another drink at the Hornet. I had that slightly intoxicated, upbeat energy that makes concerts a lot more fun.

My slight worries about a line at the door or even a sell out were badly mistaken. The Hi Dive crowd was just better than sparse. This still surprises me, because Candy Claws has been blog buzzing and playing Denver a lot. Maybe anyone that wanted to check them out already did, or maybe, as Lizzie said, just because the blogs love a band doesn't mean a lot of people do too. Or maybe word got out that this was a "special" show according to their front man. At any rate, we arrived just before they came onstage and had no trouble procuring drinks from the lone bartender who was cleaning glasses surrounded by a heavy air of boredom. We took our places in the cave.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of instruments on stage. I did not give this as much thought as I should have, because I was transfixed by the generic laptop sitting on the little stand. I did not realize musicians used computers other than Macs. Then two guys came out wearing humdrum masks with weird beards attached. The front man was polite enough. "Most of our band couldn't be here tonight. We're going to play a special early Candy Claws set," or some such is what he said. Him and his friends proceeded to play a somewhat catchy, wordless drone of rock sound. According to their twitter page, it was a "Two Airships / Exploder Falls set!" I have no idea what that means, but it should stay in the basements of Fort Collins. Lizzie and I lasted half of her drink and then skedaddled.

It's fine for bands to play DJ or PA sets, but the Hi Dive made no such notation on their website. The Hi Dive manager seemed as surprised as we were that there weren't keyboards and drums onstage. Not cool Candy Claws, not cool. You're still cool though, so hopefully we have a chance to make up soon. The thing is that if I don't like a bands live show it makes it hard for me to listen to them and I don't know where I will find another record that takes me as far away as Hidden Lands does.