Celebration week rolled around meaning it was time for Country Girl and I to get it poppin'. As luck would have it, a band I've been a fan of for some years was playing at Neumos that Friday and the venue is near a new fav burger restaurant of ours. Nothing says celebration to City Boy like din din and a show so away we went!
We've been to 8oz Burger Bar a couple of times. It's relatively new, a smallish place with lots of dark wood paneling and a usually impressive beer list. We first went courtesy of an online coupon and I was fortunately to sample their short rib topped burger (!!). Yes, it's just as amazing as it sounds. This trip, I decided to go with one of their specials which was a turkey-duck combo patty topped with duck confit as I'm crazy about duck. Country Girl had a beef patty topped with gouda, a fried green onion and bbq sauce. We also had the fried green tomato appetizer. Her burger was quite good while mine disappointed. While the turkey duck combo was ok, it pales mightily in comparison to the high standard set by the short rib burger. Also worth noting their beer list that evening left much to be desired. Slate of almost exclusively ambers, pale ales and IPAs which is unfortunately common in Emerald City.
El Ten Eleven is a two piece instrumental alt-rock band out of LA. While familiar with their music for several years, I first watched a video of them performing a few days before the concert to show Country Girl what she was in for. It was only then that I started to get an idea of just how talented they are. The guitarist/bassist plays a double necked guitar/bass and records short loops of himself playing. While playing the loop, he plays another, different rift over it and records that. Rinse and repeat. In the meantime, the drummer plays a mind numbing number of electric and acoustic drums. The end result being an incredibly lush, multi-layered, melodic sound that is absolutely infectious track after track. Seeing this live kept our minds exploding and heads bobbing through the night. Not only was the music incredible, their interaction with and appreciation of the audience was impressive as well. Easily one of the best shows I've seen. They're on tour now and highly recommend you check them out if they come to a city near you!
