Hana’s First Show

I posted on Gainesvillebands.com:

This is Hana’s first show and you should be there. They’re writing the most beautiful mellow songs you’ve never heard…songs that you’ll come to treasure and nestle in your mixCDs and playlists around Low and MBV and the Clientele for years to come, but you get to enjoy them NOW out in the loveliest weather Gainesville has seen for months.

I just got back from it and was not disappointed. This was one of my favorite shows of the year. I’d never been to Tim & Terry’s for a show; I didn’t even know they had the back patio area where bands play, so it was a really nice surprise to walk back there and find Hana setting up in the corner. After some PA setup they started and everything sounded pristine and at a perfect volume. Two clean, reverb-drenched guitars and a solid, tasteful rhythm section.

And the songs… Around every corner of a Hana song is something unexpected: Classic pop progressions twisted around; vocal melodies that refreshingly do a little more or less than you’d expect; subtle key changes (the kind the Kinks did so well); arpeggiated guitars that recall the Clientele or a more mellow Pinback; lyrics that sketch the everyday (like having your apartment broken into) and ring with simple truths and quiet realizations. “Tragically, you might be one of the few left out.”

This was the kind of experience—a great band’s first show—that makes me feel guilty for not forcing my friends to attend.

One thought on “Hana’s First Show

  1. josh says:

    sorry i didn’t go, i was really tired. i should have taken a nap and went. i’m a dick.

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