review review

only once or twice a year (if you satisfy the attractive lady luck with an ever growing set of superstition rituals) do you have the perfect weather / dreamy band combination that makes you reconsider your nihilist attitude. that sort of thing happened last night at mr smalls theater, and so early in the season no less. rogue wave and the stills played for a surprisingly small crowd that was reverently quiet with occasional bursts of static electricity. zach rogue and company played their changing-dynamic angel rock well, and the pretty vocals mellowed the space behind the eyes. although they didn’t perform “eyes”, they played mostly newer material including the haunting “publish my love”. after that the canadians (the stills) increased the volume slightly for their set of half old / half new songs. it was a great surprise to hear so many of the older (and in my correct opinion better) tracks from logic… which they didn’t play at south by southwest because of a shortened set. the highlights were “lola”, “changes are no good”, “helicopter”, and the most appreciated song of the night, “yesterday never tomorrow”. even after the show the temperature was in the high sixties and it felt like time hadn’t progressed at all. driving home at eleven with all the windows down in pittsburgh is something you never get used to or tired of.