I find it almost disheartening every time I venture back to Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, FL. As the strip keeps evolving and the building facades look less familiar. Where it once looked like an appropriate playground for the lower middle class is now this burgeoning planning wet dream. Venues like Spanky’s and Ray’s Downtown that catered to underground music have fallen in sequence. Much like that Jet Li movie, The One ,as the other venues closed it seems that the remaining club, Respectable Street Café, has only grown stronger.
From my point of view I attribute their recent success in the transitioning of the club night Flaunt from Deluxe in Delray to their club on Thursday night. In the time since than indie music morphed from garage bands like The Strokes to more DJ oriented/electro sounding groups. Groups typified by sequenced music; new formulas that defy the traditional two guitarist band. For the scene kids that patronize the genre “Specs” has become Mecca.
This past weekend the synth pop group Freezepop did a South Florida stint performing at “Specs” on Saturday, February 21, 2009, and the night before at the venues younger Miami sibling Vagabond. Opening the West Palm show was Zombies! Organize!! who also played with them earlier in the week in Orlando, and TV Kills Kids completed the bill.
For starters the evening did not go as expected in terms of covering the event editorially. I found that when the flyer says that the show starts at 8:00pm they really mean it. Thinking I had time to relax I took in a drink or two at O’Sheas across the street. It’s almost tradition to the point where I wasn’t considering any other option. Upon entering the club I was blown away that Freezepop was already playing. My deepest apologies to Zombies! Organize!! for missing their set for the third time recently. Sooner or later I’m going to catch ya’ll performing and post some pics.
The Freezepop performance was a little different than I had expected. The crowd was modest in size and generally young. Instead of dual keytars and Liz Enthusiasm singing, Kasson Crooker jumped between keytar and guitar while Sean T. Drinkwater played a basic electronic drum pad. I know for sure that they played “Less Talk More Rokk” and closed the evening with a cover of Europe’s “The Final Countdown”. It was notable that after the show that Freezpop walked around the club relaxed. No one was fanatically stalking them.
