Tonight Kelly and I went to see the brilliant Shout Out Louds at Berbati’s Pan. We started off the evening going to Huber’s for a drink, then moving on to Shanghai Tunnel for some food before heading into Berbati’s.
Unlike the Editors show, it was pretty empty when we arrived, so we were able to sit in the back and relax while the two opening acts played. The first was Johnossi, a duo (who, like Shout Out Louds, also hail from Sweden) who’s sound was pretty hard rock, with a couple near-pop songs thrown in. Sadly, about halfway through their set the guitarist’s sound dropped out so there was a forced intermission while they scrambled to fix the problem, poor guys. The second opener was a group called Nico Vega, who were also pretty loud and heavy. They were (to me) an odd pairing for Shout Out Louds, unlike in just about every way, but I was impressed the female singer’s powerful voice. She had some serious pipes!
Shout Out Louds went on sometime around 10:45pm, and put on a fantastic show. They sounded great, hitting every beat and note perfectly. They opened with The Comeback from their first album, and finished with the brilliant Tonight I Have To Leave It before an encore-like final few songs. The singer had mentioned how exhausted they were, not getting any sleep for the past two days and were about to call it a night after Tonight I Have To Leave It, but then somewhat last-minute they decided to play a few more songs before finally leaving the stage. They put on a great show, and if they were as exhausted as they’d said, it didn’t come across in the sound at all, I could only tell by watching the faces of individual members, they looked tired, but were pro’s the whole show.
There was a downside however, the rudeness of certain idiots in the crowd. I’ve heard stories before that Portland is, sadly, somewhat known for it’s rude audiences. It’s something I’ve only recently began to notice, but tonight I couldn’t help but feel both angry and embarrassed by some of the fuckers in the crowd. If you’re not there to support the band, then get the fuck out! Stop being rude. I tried to let it pass and just enjoy the show, but there were a handful of morons who ended up ruining the mood for me at times. Argh! All of this aside, it was still a great show.