The first to showcase in catching up to the present, is a concert at the Bing Crosby Theater... the Horse Thieves. (Remember, if you want to spell their name, that it is "I before E, except after C... and Old MacDonald had a Farm.) We even ate a Bing Crosby Chocolate bar while we were there!
I have never eaten a "Bing Crosby Chocolate Bar"... have you?
Here is the wrapper:
Bing Crosby was of a different generation than me.... but he has some history in Spokane.
They named this theater after him.
As I mentioned, the band that we went to see and hear was called the Horse Thieves....
Here they are:
The Horse Thieves is a local group was a lot of fun to watch and listen to. They were opened by a duo called Betty and the Boy...
Musically, Betty and the Boy was quite engaging ... The woman's beautiful voice was rather ethereal.... mesmerizing even, and as I said, their brief opening of the show was engaging, but behind it's sublime beauty there was was a hauntingly depressing... rather "dark" tone in their music and lyrics. Maybe it's supposed to be that way.... a folksy sort of thing, but it was not uplifting.
After seeing them in person, I took the opportunity to check them out on the web and I ran into their music video to a song they played, called, “Moth to a Light...” I do not recommend viewing it. Betty (Beteena Jeager) accurately describes the song, or is it the video.. (or is it both?)... in the Eugene Weekly, calling it a “graphic and dark journey” through “drugs, suicide and the afterworld.” Yes, the video is graphic and sad.... I say this having only watched part. The graphic visions of bloodletting are truly something I could have done without... REALLY! Now, after learning more about the band, I more clearly understand why the music seemed so dark; it is dark. Missing from it is that uplifting and essential ingredient for life and health.... light.
Maybe some OF B and the B songs are uplifting, I just haven't heard them. I know from experience though that in some dark places there is seemingly no hope or help... just pain and darkness.... and I know too that light is life giving. IT is only the Light of Christ....that will dispell such darkness... and it's too bad that I have to comment on how depressing and lonely.... hopeless. the music of BEtty and the Boy makes one feel even with the beautiful voice she has. The music of Betty and the boy, however is hauntingly moving...somewhat captivating and mostly lonely and sad.
But, on another note, and in a slightly different light, was the other band.... the one we went to see, the Horse Thieves. They were a lot more uplifting to listen to though, in their sound, if not their name, there also was an essence of darkness, but it was in a more subtle way. Of course, it could just be the contrast between the two bands. I read an article about them and their outlaw ballads.... music about cannibals and such, but I wouldn't necessarily describe their music or lyrics as dark.... nor "oppressive," maybe more like "folk" and a little "moody."
We loved the girl drummer, (she was great!) and we were intrigued by the folksy punk-western sound of the Horse Thieves. There was also the bass player, who had moves of every kind to accentuate the music as the band exhibited their style and talent. But the best part of going to this concert was the discovery that one of our old friends was playing in the band! This was a surprise, as, quite frankly, we didn't know what to expect. All we knew, was that it was part of a fundraiser for the people down in Haiti, it was and the Bing Crosby Theater, down town and featured a band named the Horse Thieves.
We were pleasantly, (and in many ways,) surprised.
YOu can listen to them on the internet...NEed help? Try here. or here.
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