2005-01-29 - 12:31 p.m. Went to this place last night for an excellent evening of the rock music: Sinclair, Warnick, and the Fumes. The sound during Sinclair's set was maddeningly off--and the sound guy seemed at a loss as to how to remedy it. The upshot is that the all-important interplay of Ken's guitar and Donna's vocals were lost in an ocean of bass. Er, bass the instrument, not the fish, although I like the idea of being lost in an ocean of just these guys. Man, the Internet does not have enough pictures of fresh-water bass. Anyway, Sinclair still rocked. At one point Donna and Ken had to share a mic, and it seemed like a sweet, intimate intra-band moment for them. Warnick was in fine form, ripping up the joint, chewing the scenery, handing out wee gifties to the audience (I got a mermaid doll!). His new songs are very good...imagine Rip Taylor fronting the Band and you've got an idea of where Tom's at musically these days. The Fumes are Matt Dolingo's fearsome rock-making unit, a tight power (pop) trio. They were great, although I had to leave midway through their set because it was very late. Laila Lounge is a comfortable place to hang out, but there are a couple of near-fatal flaws: there's only one ladies room to serve a large two-floor club, and the stairway leading to the basement music area is difficult to negotiate whilst tipsy. thoughts? (11 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact