We had a brilliant time at The Roxy on Sunset the other night, opening for the Boxer Rebellion! C-horse was asked shortly after our downtown residency at Casey’s Irish Bar if we’d be interested in opening for the band, and we of course said yes. Boxer Rebellion create expansive, heartfelt brit rock similar to Coldplay or Radiohead’s earlier material, and the band was recently featured in the Drew Barrymore movie Going the Distance. We knew this would be a good opportunity to play for a crowd of younger people, which excited us; we always hope to play for the kids! To our delight, the gig sold out a day prior to show-time.
We carpooled over from our home base in Pasadena the night of the show. Street traffic into Hollywood is almost always a nightmare, but we had plenty of time to focus and arrange our merch in the Roxy loading space before the staff was ready to set us up. As we dealt with gear and performed a time-sensitive line-check, we could hear the venue filling up on the other side of the curtain. The soundmen finished adjusting our mic levels seconds before the drapes were drawn. The faces of the crowd were revealed as we launched into “Tongues.” As we suspected, the floor was packed!
Photo by Yenny Johnson
Our set began at 8:30pm sharp and ran the full thirty minutes we were allotted. We felt good about the performance and had a very warm reception. For me, the biggest difference between an intimate show for friends and longtime fans and playing a higher-profile event for many strangers is the attendants’ expectation levels. Friends have more of a sense of what to expect even if they are going to see you play for the first time. Because they know you, your musical tastes, the different personalities in your band, they come to the show with certain insights. A show like this one at The Roxy is a clean slate sort of experience. Maybe certain showgoers google your band in preparation for your set, but generally, they have no idea what they are in for. As a player, this is a treat! Everyone’s excited about the evening; they paid at least $15, by choice, to get in! Being that most of them don’t know the bands personally, they are strictly there for the music. No obligation. The majority is willing to give your music a chance. And it’s great when you can see on a stranger's face that your music is having a positive impact.
In any case, we had a rockin’ good time. Set list:
Tongues
Stars
Know Me
Beds
Spoon
Oh Reconcile
What
Squeeze
A good moment for me was seeing a few high-school-aged girls scattered around the venue singing along on the choruses of “What.”
Thanks to our friends Paco Jimenez and Chris Funk for sporting plaid and being awesome merch men. And a big thank you to the lovely Yenny Johnson for these photos. -- Lindsay
Photos by Yenny Johnson
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