The Octopus Project at Bottom of the Hill, 8-16-08

I'm never sorry when I take a chance on going to the Bottom of the Hill on spec. The sound is so good, unlike certain other small SF venues (Slim's, I am looking at you), that even just decent bands make a good impression.

On Saturday I didn't have to settle for just a decent band -- The Octopus Project was dynamite. So, as a brand new fan, I'm pleased to bring you Distingué Traces' first attempt at a celebrity interview, with Josh Lambert, one of their lead guitarists. It went like this.

Distingué Traces reporter: Is it okay if I photograph you with flash?
Josh Lambert: Go ahead. It makes us feel special.
Distingué Traces reporter: [blushes, runs]

But then later I got my courage up and took lots of pictures of him with flash, so the point of this story is that a charming indie boy from Austin, Texas felt special last night...because of me.

Yeah, I'm lame. Seriously though The Octopus Project makes music that is beautiful. There are sparkly electric noises having a contest with fierce bashing noises, and on the album the sparkly electric mostly wins, but on stage the fierce bashing mostly wins and it is titanic.

More pictures below. Some of them get bigger when you click them.



















I did my level best to get a clear shot of Yvonne Lambert playing the theremin by herself, but this blurry awkwardness is the best I could do. I am sorry about this! She actually looked very graceful playing it.



I also have a couple of pictures of the opening bands. The Diagonals are from Austin like the Octopus Project, and they were pretty decent: songs with plain structure but deep plushy textures. I liked 'em.



Then in the middle there were two bands, of which I only photographed the first, Sassy, for obvious reasons. Look at that skirt! Her approach matched her outfit - she kept yelling, "HELLO SAN FRANCISCO!" and the audience of thirty shoegazers standing five feet away from her would shift from foot to foot and clap uncertainly.



And finally, notice how Toto Miranda of the Octopus Project looks all sexy when his white shirt gets sweaty and sticks to the flesh of his torso.