Seattle's Minus the Bear went on early at the Knitting Factory on Thursday. Since I was only sort of familiar with them, I wasn't even sure it was them, at first. Sorry, I like "Planet of Ice" and recently released "Omni," but I hadn't studied these guys' faces.
I knew one band had played and that there were two opening acts. But after a couple songs, all I could think was "These guys sure sound a lot like Minus the Bear." This was, of course, for a good reason.
It turned out that second opening act Young the Giant hadn't made it to Reno because, facepalm, snow in the pass. It was, afterall, late May, so everyone really should have been expecting this.
Fortunately, solid openers Everest and headliners Minus the Bear made it to Reno. Minus the Bear even said they'd play an extra long set because of the smaller lineup, but I doubt their performance was any more than a song or two longer than usual.
Although the show also started later than usual Knit punctuality allows, it probably ended a little earlier without the third band, and since it was a Thursday, I wasn't complaining.
Minus the Bear did a great job, and were a pleasure to see and even rock out to (in a mathy kind of way) but my favorite part was the Asskicker.
I'm really surprised I haven't seen more of these on stage, given the Knit's close proximity to the Little Nugget Diner.
The casino-restaurant's signature 32 oz. margarita (and common companion to the Awful Awful) was eagerly passed around in its telltale bright red sports bottle the whole time the band played. It apparently belonged to keyboardist Alex Rose, but everyone took a gulp at one point or another.
Reno should be proud.