DC9 is a hole-in-the-wall kind of venue. Their show area holds about 200 people. It's in DC, and it's on 9th Street, hence the name. Jill and I found incredibly lucky parking and arrived before the opener, but turns out we could have been later - the venue lied about start times, by an hour or so.
The opener, East Ghost, a local band, was not good. The Tobacco Teeth song they have up on Band Camp may have the worst lyrics I've ever heard. They were decent at playing their instruments, but I liked nothing they played and looked at my watch several times. I was worried I wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.
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| Rae Cassidy and Allen Tate, lead vocals, San Fermin |
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| Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin Composer |
That changed the second San Fermin took the stage. I worried that their slower, moody sound would mean a boring set. That worry was completely unfounded. They had energy, talent and a quiet charisma that made me want to come back and see them again. I didn't realize at the time, but Lucius is not part of the band right now, and that didn't hurt at all. The new lead vocal Rae absolutely blew me away with her virtuosity and charm. It was also her birthday, and the crowd serenaded her with the band joining in. It was fun and memorable. The brass guys were entertaining to watch on stage and the drummer was sweetly enthusiastic. His blue eyes looked so blue I thought it was glow-in-the-dark contacts, but it turned out to be a trick of the blue stage lights. Definitely his color. Ellis, the classically trained composer of all of the songs by the band, seemed confident and at ease on stage introducing songs and performers between numbers. The band has recently been the victim of the theft of all of their equipment - $28,000 worth - and are running a kickstarter on their website to replace it. This show was done with rental equipment. We were very lucky the show wasn't canceled. I am so glad Jill and I went out on a cold Thursday night to see this band.
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