Review: The Say So at The Hi-Dive, 6/9/12

Tom Murphy

Take to the Oars at The Hi-Dive. Slide show: The Say So at the Hi-Dive.

Take to the Oars filled the middle slot with its mixture of blues and late '90s-esque alternative rock. Apparently these guys played at The People's Fair last weekend, proving that maybe that event was taking a few more chances with the music offered.

During "White Noise," Oars were deft at coming in strong off the verses. A moment that solidified the '90s alt-rock came when the guys performed a song that sounded so familiar and yet sounded like so many of their other songs. Then it became obvious that it was a song by The Flys from fourteen years ago called "Got You Where I Want You."

To be honest, it was a bit like when a lot of the glam metal bands of the late '80s were covering Loggins and Messina -- puzzling at best. At the end, Mike Trujillo asked, "You guys like that one?" and laughed. Maybe they thought it would be funny to cover the one hit by a now deservedly obscure band.

Toward the end, Oars played a new song called "Morning Coffee" that had a nice guitar bend in it and finished the set with "Stones & Sticks" where JP Manza set down his bass and took out an accordion for the first part of the song. Interestingly enough, as the song progressed to the end, the rapid guitar riffing and atmosphere sounded like a latter day Catherine Wheel song. Which is no bad thing.

Critic's Notebook:

Bias: Honestly, I didn't have a much of an impression of any of these bands before going into the show, beyond some hearsay and reading Kesley Whipple's article on The Say So but I respect anyone who gets on stage and performs like they actually took time to put something good together and in a manner that shows they're very into their material. None of these bands lacked in that aspect of things.

Random Detail: A woman yelled "Yeah! Party rockin'!" during The Say So's set. Apparently she was still recovering from the LMFAO show on Memorial Day at Red Rocks.

By the Way: It's nice to see three bands have a solid show on a Friday night without it being packed to capacity and where people are having fun and not being unmindful of others.

Slide show: The Say So at the hi-dive

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