I am a bit late getting around to this, but here is a brief review of Wednesday’s Thank You Scientist / Strawberry Girls / Art Thief show in Grand Rapids:
Wednesday night I saw a triple bill of Thank You Scientist, Strawberry Girls, and Art Thief at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids Michigan. The Pyramid Scheme is a small, around four hundred capacity club, which is the perfect place to see a tour like this one. The venue is mostly standing with a few tables on the side, so us old folks got their early to seize a table (although I stood on the floor for some of Strawberry Girls and all TYS). For a weeknight, the place was close to full with a crowd of mostly younger folks which is encouraging for the future of this type of music. We were the old people at this one, but nothing wrong with that.
Art Thief opened things up with an impressive set of quirky music that I find hard to describe. They are a large band with horns and a female lead singer that more than once reminded me of Bent Knee. Checking the internet, I find it difficult to find much information on this band. They are out of the east coast somewhere, but not sure exactly where. They had more than one song that seemed to be about weed, but having never heard their stuff before, not sure on that either. Anyway, the band put on a great, energetic set of prog, fusion, jazz, rock amalgamation that was certainly unique. I can see this band going places.
Second on the bill were Strawberry Girls. I had never heard of this band before, but they hail from California have been around for a while and have several albums out. The band consisted of two guitars, bass and drums. I became an instant convert and loved what they did. They have vocals on some of their albums, but everything performed Wednesday night was instrumental. I would describe this band as heavy prog rock / math rock with a dose of post rock as well. The band’s 45-minute set seemed too short as they burned through vigorous tracks that flew by. I went down on the floor for most of this set and the drummer was particularly impressive. He was playing a small Ringo Star type drum kit, but was amazing using what little he had to work with I would love to see this guy let loose on a full kit. Everyone in the band were extraordinary musicians and I would definitely see them again.
Last up was Thank You Scientist who are touring in support of their excellent new EP “Plague accommodations.” Having seen these guys half a dozen times over the years, I know what to expect they they always deliver. The set list consisted of the entire new EP along with classics from their earlier works. I did notice that there appears to be a new drummer. He is good, but I missed the frantic energy of the previous drummer Faye Fadem brought to the proceedings. Founding members Sal on vocals and Tom on guitar were in fine form as usual. Sal left the stage several times for the band to really kick into the instrumentals which allowed everyone in the band to shine. I stayed on the floor for their full set which was a great vantage point. The crowd was good, but not packed. Of course, you have not lived until you have heard Thank You Scientist frantic Brittany Spears cover of “Baby Hit Me One More Time / Ooops……I Did It Again.” TYS deconstruct, twist, and bend the songs into something completely original. By the encore ‘My Famed Disappearing Act” the crowd was singing along and everyone went home happy.
This is an outstanding 3 band tour if it comes to your area. Tix for the Grand Rapids show were only $27 and we certainly got our money’s worth.
Here are the set lists:
I could not find set lists for Art Thief or Strawberry Girls and not being previously familiar with their stuff, do not know what songs they played other than “Weed Is Tight” by Art Thief.
THANK YOU SCIENTIST:
GIGGLEBUTTON
FXMLDR
SOUL DIVER
PLAGUE ACCOMODATIONS
MR. INVISIBLE
RUBE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS
CARNIVAL
TERRIFORMER
BABY HIT ME ONE MORE TIME / OOPS….I DID IT AGAIN / TOXIC
ENCORE
MY FAMED DISAPPEARING ACT
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Originally Posted by Mythos
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