Arts county fair high-jinx con't...
The biggest surprise of the day for
me was 54/40’s set, which closed out
the event. On two previous occasions |
had the opportunity to see 54/40
perform at the Stein Valley Voices for
the Wilderness Festivals. The band
had never struck me as being particu-
larly inventive or engaging musically.
They had some decent pop tunes
(‘Don’t Sheila,’ ‘One Gun,’ etc) but |
remained unconvinced of their merit as
both a live and studio band. However,
that opinion was changed in the space
of three or four songs into their set. |
finally heard what every fan of this

430 A&E

 

band has been trying to make me see
for the last seven or eight years:
they’re good. Really, quite good. They
played what must have been a stand-
ard set of songs culled from their many
albums, but to me it sounded like a
greatest hits show. | was able to
recognize almost every song in their
set, and considering that | am not a
card carrying member of the 54/40 fan
club this is nothing short of remark-
able. This band has that elusive quality
known as “pop smarts.” Few of their
peers have this attribute. Radiohead
has it, Matthew Sweet has it, the
Breeders have it (for that matter so do

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Eric Milner Photo

Frank Black and the Pixies) as do a
smattering of other bands. They were
also able to hit that power pop stride in
their sound that only the Hip has
evoked. That 54/40 are able to jama
little and beef up their sound with a lot
more muscle bodes well for them in
the future. @§