The Go! Team at the Echoplex, 10/21/2007

photo by optionthis
I must say it's been a while since I arrived at a show so early I caught both opening bands. I'm a little sad to say I wasn't particularly blown away by the two bands that had the terrible duty of having to go on before the Go! Team. The Grand Ole Party serves up a pretty catchy blues-tingued brand of retro-indie rock but their lead female vocalist might remind one a little too much of Karen O, so your feelings on that microphone gobbling rock banshee might color your perceptions of this band. Middle act Bodies of Water (from Highland Park - eastside represent!) was definitely not this writer's cup of $7 beer despite their rather buoyant and good-natured set. A lot of their songs they performed last night sound very similar to each other...and everything was a few steps away from becoming an Abba song. (Note: their Myspace page claims they sound like Abba meets the Muppets and that's an apt description. I like Muppets but I don't like no Abba.)

If you haven't been to a Go! Team show, I will only say this much. This morning my butt actually hurts. From shaking it SO DAMN HARD. The Go! Team is a band that has limitless energy and inspires an equal and passionate response from their audience. Frontwoman Ninja is exactly that...a dance-inspiring, sweat drenched ninja goddess who never stopped working the crowd - even after tripping and nearly falling on some cords, she recovered by doing the running man for approximately 3 straight minutes. I can't be sure of the accuracy of how long she took because I was probably doing the running man myself at the time.

Energy level: Extremely High with 90% Chance of Dance Floor Exhaustion
Would See Again?: Yes

See more photos of The Grand Ole Party, Bodies of Water & The Go! Team
Listen to the Go! Team