Concert Review
Band: Shout Out Out Out Out
When: August 10, 2008 10:00 pm
Where: Richards on Richards,  

Reviewed By: Nathan Griffiths (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada) 

According to their MySpace page: "Shout out out out out = two drummers + four bass players + two samplers + five synthesizers + one vocoder. volatile dance music." Their solo show last week (August 10) at Richards on Richards, however, was perhaps a little less volatile than their MySpace bio might otherwise indicate.

Richards was pretty quiet when we arrived; there were no opening bands booked and the balcony was closed. Even still the bar felt empty. That subdued feeling changed once Shout out out out out took to the stage, however, launching into a rocking version of ‘Self Loathing Rulz', easily one of their best songs and undoubtedly one of their most upbeat. Nearly everyone in the bar moved immediately to the dance floor, where they stayed for the majority of the show. The boys in the band did their bit too, dancing up a storm on stage, while the drummers performed synchronized twirls with their sticks - a hint of ZZ Top for the 21^st century. 

They had the right ideas if not the best execution, since launching right into such a high-energy song didn't leave them much space to maneuver and didn't read the crowd very well. Despite coming on stage as if the party had been going all night (or perhaps because of it), they didn't seem particularly aware of the fact that much of the audience had been standing around the edges of the bar chatting - not ripping it up on the dance floor. And for all the people up on stage - two guys on drums, two more covering bass, synths, and fx, and a vocoder-laden vocalist - it often didn't seem like there was really that much going on up there, musically speaking. That point always seemed vividly reinforced whenever the drummers would stop playing and you realized just how much of the beat was being carried by their drum machine.

Still, they played a great party set, and once the analysis had been set aside and the dancing started the show just got better and better. Whether or not it was really necessary to have two drummers over and above the drum machine seemed pretty irrelevant once the beat got into you and you'd worked yourself into a sweat on the dance floor; which is exactly what everyone came to do, anyways. 

Read more about Shout out out out out & download a free mp3 mix at
http://damnthatunderscore.blogspot.com