Composed of ex-members from two very different bands (Piano Magic and The Fucking Champs), Citay manage to do quite a lot of things at once with their seven-strong stage presence. The combination of
psychedelic rock, folk and americana gives away a love for bands of the 60s, and the frequent references to their hometown of San Francisco also place them firmly in that category with influences of Bay Area bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service showing through. A highlight was the fantastically titled Careful With That Hat, which managed to combine these influences with accessible, poppy singing. Nevertheless, they manage to sound fresh and inspired, and make a huge sound, taking breaks to talk about their trip down from Edinburgh and the joys of touring Europe.
Next up are Timber Timbre, whose name Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent was later chastised for mispronouncing, but probably shouldn't have been as at least half a dozen variations were heard being tried out by audience members
during the evening. The first song crept up slowly, with soaring violin taking around five minutes to reach its agonising crescendo. The sparsity of the sound was the polar opposite of Citay's all-at-once aural assault, but if anything it had more of an impact, core member Taylor Kirk's voice sounding powerful in the relatively small venue. It reminds of Win Butler's at times, but the songs are more freeform and abstract, building in a less linear way, instead taking in several changes in momentum and rhythm, created largely by Mika Posen's harrowing violin. A very rewarding set from a band that needs more recognition.
Phosphorescent take the stage at about half past ten and despite complaints of tiredness seem very happy and relaxed. A beautiful rendition of Wolves early in the set gets the pace going and is the first of many highlights from 2007's Pride, including Cocaine Lights, which has much more impact in the live setting, and the last song of the encore At Death, A Proclamation, which is dragged out into
a crashing tide of instruments played to their extremes. They answer requests, such as Reasons to Quit, a cut from last year's Willie Nelson covers album, and the conversation between songs is, just like the support bands, really friendly – you get the impression they want to be here. But what's really surprising just how much better live Houck's voice sounds, given the overt highlights of their appearances are the charged instrumental passages that don't appear on record. The Mermaid Parade, a highlight from recent album Here's To Taking It Easy sounds gorgeous tonight, the vocals pure and deeply resonant. It seems they're having so much fun that they don't want to leave, but they finally come off stage after a sizeable encore, a little bit before midnight.
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