April 6th, 2007

I received a tip from Rowley at DarkCompass that San Diego-based band bill was scheduled to play here in San Luis Obispo on Thursday night. Rowley informed me that Bill had been logging a lot of podplay on the Podsafe Music Network, and that it looked to ge a good show. Me and Jen headed downtown early Thursday night, wandered ’round Farmer’s Market a bit and then ducked into Frog and Peach Pub. We found a couple seats at the back of the main floor, enjoyed a solo-acoustic set by a guy whose name we didn’t get, and then settled in for bill’s performance.

bill’s set began with Curtis Hartling on guitar and lead vocals, Jonathon Coyle on drums and David Marciano on bass. The band worked its songs seemlessly through different tempos and styles. They incorporated pop, jazz, psychodelic, reggae and even some hard rock elements into their well-crafted tunes. bill may be a trio, but don’t let the band’s size fool you. They produce a big sound, and their use of dynamics is impressive; Never too much, never too little.

About halfway through the band’s first set, they did something surprising. Hartling put down the guitar and moved behind the drumkit while Coyle took up the keyboard. The band really showed its flexibility here, delving into swing-styled, piano-based numbers. Not to be outdone by his instrument-swtiching bandmates, Marciano produced a saxophone and blew some sweet notes over songs like the Ben Folds-ish set closer “Sound Scientist.”

At this point, bill announced they’d be taking a break before the next set. They promised that their second act would include some “sing-along covers.” But the stale bar air inside of Frog and Peach was starting to affect Jen’s allergies. So, we decided to head out. But before we left, we purchased a copy of the band’s full-length disc, Birthday Suit. The band’s merch minder was kind enough to give us a couple freebie demo discs, and we even got to talk to drummer Jonathon Coyle.

We had a good time at the show. Hopefully, bill will come back to SLO in the future. If they do, we’ll be there.

(Photos also available through Flickr.)

Tags: bill, Flickr, Frog & Peach, music
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