Mini-Review - Wrens w/Tapes n' Tapes@Schubas 4/29/06

When did Thax Douglas become the Camera Flash Police at shows? Saturday night at the Wrens/Tapes 'n Tapes show at Schubas, he appeared to be watching the crowd the entire time for the occasional flash, ready to pounce and ask the offender to please turn it off because it's "annoying." Not as annoying as Thax constantly pushing his way back and forth through a sold out audience. If Schubas didn't want people using flash, they'd make a policy and have the bouncers tell people to stop. The venue is brightly lit enough anyway that you hardly notice the flash, and it's small enough that flash can actually make for a good picture. Too bad I forgot my camera! Other than that, the show was great- Tapes 'n Tapes put on a nice little performance, although I think "10 Gallon Ascots" didn't quite kill the way I'd hoped it would- the chorus is so anthemic, it needed to be louder and more passionate. "Insistor" and "Cowbell" were great, though. All fears that the show might be overrun with people there just to see the latest buzz band were quashed as the crowd was definitely a Wrens' crowd. I'd seen the Wrens put on a great show at Schubas two years ago, but somehow this time around they were even better, with more energy and new versions of songs. They opened with an awesome version of "This Boy Is Exhausted," with just two guitars and vocals quietly introducing the song before the rest of the band took the stage to finish it up big. The songs drew mostly from The Meadowlands, making me wonder if they have new material on the way or if they just wanted to please the audience with the favorites. The between song jokes were hilarious and they poked fun at their age ("yeah, back when I was like, 30"), their skill, their popularity, etc. A great show overall... -Nicole Chavas