last night was dolly's pillbox ep release party at the wall. a few weeks ago, the singer emailed me and asked if i'd like to reserve a copy of the special editon ep that comes with a set of postcards and stickers. of course i said yes. so before the show i stopped by their table where they were selling them and got to talk to a few of the members. they were all really nice, and the lead singer asked me if i'd already bought a ticket, when i said no she handed me a free ticket for the show.

there were three bands in the line up. first up was tin pan alley. i'd listened to some of their songs on a listening station, but it didn't really do much for me. live they were much more interesting - and i realized how much i missed seeing live music and just feeling that wall of noise.

next up were dolly's pillbox. they played quite a few songs i knew from stuff they've had on line to download. musically it was good, but unfortunately the sound guys didn't seem to be on top of things and for quite a bit of the set the vocals were pretty buried. when i first heard this band i thought they sounded like a combination of a girl group and slowdive. i'm not sure if the comparison still holds true, though there's a definate shoegaze influence at work, but there's also parts where the music seems really quiet - a bit sunshine pop perhaps. after the show, it's interesting to listen to the ep, because i pick out certain instruments more. like the harmonica(which i never really thought of as being a harmonica before) or the song where some of the vocals are spoken through a bullhorn. i'm looking forward to the next time they do a show. it's nice to have a local band i like enough to want to see live.

the final band of the evening was orange grass. i only stayed for 4 or 5 songs. they were ok, but not anything i'd buy. they reminded me a bit of someone my friend myndi might like.

as i left the wall i spied the scheldule for the taipei film festival which will be held next month. lots of good things showing. a lot of canadian films, including one atom egoyan film i've never seen before. it's going to be difficult to decide what to see.