Acetone @ Rhino Records

Acetone, Rhino Records, Los Angeles, 2/15/98

One wouldn't usually expect that a record shop would be a great place to see a live performance, and pretty much you'd be right. The ambianceleaves a little to be desired, there's really nowhere to sit, and you can't get something to drink if you're thirsty. Yup, all that said, Rhino rises above it to deliver a good smattering of great in-store performances by generally little-known bands, but occasionally some higher profile folks as well - last year, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth performed a rare solo guitar assault on a teeny crowd amongst the CD racks.

And then there are the nice guys of Acetone who delivered a set very much like their mellow, Velvet Underground, countryesque, most recent, self-titled album. Their live show was in fact so much like their album that I learned that the little maraca sound on my favorite song is in fact a plastic easter egg duct-taped to the drummer's drumstick and filled with rice. No, not the drumstick. The egg. Their songs have this kind of strange quality of never actually going anywhere, just kind of meandering about, slowly oozing at you, never really meaning to finish up anywhere in particular. Unlike their pleasantly aimless songs, their set did eventually come to an end when the bassist announced "Well, this is our last song - I think our pizza's here." Who can argue with that?

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