On Wednesday June 27th I ventured into the Double Door in Wicker Park, Chicago, to see a band by the name of Boho Paisley that I had seen once before. I had a couple expectations: one being that I hoped I was right when I emphatically told people that I thought lead singer Justin Hoot’s vocals were frighteningly similar to those of Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers (I may or may not have been a trifle intoxicated when I had the pleasure of hearing them perform the first time so it was up in the air), and the other being that beers would not cost me more than $3 apiece. Both expectations were met, although $3 bought me none other than Busch beer, not Busch Light, mind you, but Busch heavy….I knew I was in for a good night.

First things first, let me say that I was very impressed by the size of the crowd at the Double Door for a Wednesday night. I saw at least two different groups of girls who were not only dressed rather scantily for the occasion, but were taking multiple pictures as though this was a night that they wanted to be sure to remember. I guessed that these were not Double Door regulars but Boho Paisley groupies. Not often do you see the picture taking groups of girls hanging out at small concert venues with Busch beer on special on a Wednesday night, but I digress…a credit to Boho Paisley and their recruiting abilities.

As for the music, Boho Paisley played a solid Wednesday night set. They bring a lot of energy to the stage. The lead singer’s voice does compare favorably with that of Anthony Kiedis and the band even did a killer cover of “Hey Oh” by the Chili Peppers. They really seemed to let loose and drive it home on the couple of numbers that featured the bassist, Edward Doerge, who was much more talented than your typical keep-the-rhythm type of musician. He actually seemed to have the lead riff on a couple of songs, a very welcome change of pace for a band looking for its niche.

The crowd was very involved throughout the show and there were even chants of an encore although there were two acts left to perform. Overall this is a talented, up and coming band in Chicago and I look forward to hearing more from them sooner rather than later. Check out Boho Paisley’s Myspace Page to get an idea of just how talented they are–and to see when they’re playing again so that you can see how talented they are, live.

1. When historians listen to your most recent CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
Hmmm. Hopefully good things. Maybe we’ll get rich and famous long after we’re dead and gone. That would be sweeeeeeeet.

2. If you could play a show w/ any band/musician living or dead, whom would you pick and why?
The Black Crowes, RHCP, Modest Mouse, Janis Joplin, or Jimi Hendrix solely because of their stage presence and energy. I (Justin) feel like all those artists get lost in their performances which is cool and honest.

3. What is the strangest band-related dream you have had?
Ryan had a dream about horns playing in one of our songs, so loudly that it was drowning out his guitar. Needless to say, we don’t play that song anymore.

4. What do your fans look like?
We have fans?

5. What bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think, “Man, this bullshit again?”
Other bands being pretentious dicks.

Bonus Question: Why won’t you forget to tip your bartender?
Because the good bartender giveth and the good bartender taketh away.

5 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment