Middle East Cafe – Page 4 – Lollipop Magazine

One Of Us – with Holy Cow, The Moors at The Middle East Cafe – Review

September 1, 1996

Signature bass drum rack booming, bass pumping, and John’s deep voice coming through strong and bold. He was as charismatic as ever, drawing all eyes to him.

Omatic – with Ten O’Clock Scholar at The Middle East Cafe – Review

September 1, 1996

Straight-forward, great sound, no songs longer that a minute and a half, and stick-it-in-your-ear-and-jam-it-crunchy layered guitars.

Turkish Delight – with Double Dong, Neptune at The Middle East Cafe – Review

April 1, 1996

The chosen sounds transposed from washy, pretty feel to a more unnerving discordant sensation, and served to keep the appreciative audience transfixed.

Salt – with Local H, Mystery Machine at The Middle East Cafe – Review

April 1, 1996

Just about anyone can sound decent on a recording. Salt rocked the house and sounded as good live, if not even better, than they do on record.

Neptune – with Double Dong, Turkish Delight at The Middle East Cafe – Review

April 1, 1996

Sporting an industrial edge with homemade instruments of garbage, bicycle wheels, and saw blades, combined with their traditional stringed counterparts.

Mystery Machine – with Local H, Salt at The Middle East Cafe – Review

April 1, 1996

The band played with a lot of energy, but their music was rather simplistic and repetitive.

Local H – with Salt, Mystery Machine at The Middle East Cafe – Review

April 1, 1996

They had a full sound and played in a variety of styles with nice dirty grooves and beautifully executed pregnant pauses. They even showcased a few ballads.

Double Dong – with Turkish Delight, Neptune at The Middle East Cafe – Review

April 1, 1996

Double Dong is an innovative vocal outfit that was a welcome alternative. The human voice is the most spectacular of all instruments.

The Dambuilders – at The Middle East Cafe – Review

March 1, 1996

Guitarist Eric Masunaga reminded me of Thurston Moore as he seemed to get lost in his own distortion, and would then quickly change over to a mammoth groove.

You Shriek – with Fade, Fracture, One of Us at the Middle East Cafe – Review

February 1, 1996

You Shriek had the same problems as Fracture: A bad mix of electronic and human noises. They rushed around, trying to do everything, not achieving their goal.