Electric Six/Local H, November 8 at the Casbah

I wouldn't even have put together this combination, especially with Local H, who had a hit back in the day, opening for the Electric Six, another, almost equally obscure band, but I’m a fan who would see either of their individual shows so this was a no-brainer for me. But I don't care about their popularity, as long as they're doing a show near me. I had something going on the night of their L.A. date but luckily bands don’t jump too far for their next shows. In this case they were playing the Casbah in San Diego, the same place the Electric Six played almost exactly a year ago and where Local H headlined their own show just a few months ago. Brian got tickets again and brought along some friends, a few who hadn't seen the Six and none of whom had ever seen (or heard) Local H. I tried to convert them into fans but, as so often is the case, they were too drunk by the time the bands went on to be able to appreciate it. But the Electric Six did their show, which was very similar to the last time we saw them, just with some new songs (and Dick had a new cape for the opener (“Flashy Man”), over the cape for the next opening song (“It’s Showtime”)), which isn't a bad thing, since it's always a fun show. If they were a local band who weren't signed and they played a place down the street every week, I'd be there every week.

Local H do their own show and I wonder how many fans they shared with the Six (besides me). I saw a lot of Local H T-shirts in the crowd. Local H generally like to piss off their own fans, who are usually too drunk to not be morons by the time the band take the stage (there’s a group of people that “High-Fiving MF” was written for), but here, having an abbreviated opening slot, they knew they weren’t going to make anyone happy. So they played some stuff off their new album, stretched out a lot of songs a lot longer than they needed to be, threw in a Pixies cover, skipped their one hit (the “Copasetic” song), and made me deaf for a few days (though the Six helped out with that as well).

Local H's set:*
"Heaven on the Way Down"
"BMW Man"
"Back in the Day"
"Michelle" (might be in a different order)
"Simple Pleas"
"Tame"
"Hands on the Bible"
"California Songs"
"Fuck Yeah, That Wide"

Electric Six's set:*
"Flashy Man"
"It's Showtime"
"We Were Witchy Witchy White Women"
"Down at McDonnelzz"
"Gay Bar"
"Slices of You"
"Dirty Ball"
"Synthesizer"
"Rock n' Roll Excavation"
"Improper Dancing"
"Danger! High Voltage"
"The Future is in the Future"
"Heat is Rising"
"I Buy the Drugs"
"Dance Epidemic"
"Germans in Mexico"

"Gay Bar Part Two"
"Lenny Kravitz"
"Formula 409"
"Dance Commander"