Pop Rockin' At Maxwell's with Kimba & Butch

After spending the day recovering from the sonic bombast of the Gang Of Four show, I trotted the missus out to Maxwell's Wednesday night to see her guy Butch Walker. Butch was formerly the singer in the criminally under-appreciated Marvelous 3, and is now a much sought-after songwriter and producer (he's produced and written for The Donnas, Midtown, Avril L., American Hi-Fi, Sevendust, and more) and is touring behind his solo record, "Letters".

Walker's a fantastic showman, and terribly likeable. Despite the ballad-laden set at such a late show (an 11pm start after being up all night last night should have killed me), I really enjoyed the set. The inclusion of supercharged covers of The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" and INXS's "Don't Change" (which I actually saw The Bravery perform on the same stage last fall) were enough to keep me interested straight through.

The show had been sold-out for some time, and I was amazed that so many people not only knew about Walker, but seemed to know every word to every song. The crowd certainly wasn't as pretty as the hipster scene at the shows I usually go to, but they were totally into the music, which was a nice change for me.


photo courtesy of Shutterpop.