The Blow…Doesn’t

The Blow played last Saturday night to a sold out crowd at the Triple Door, and I’m going to do my best not to use corny puns throughout the course of this review by saying things like, “I was Blown away”, or “They Blowed the place up”… Instead I’d like to focus on something that I have been emphasizing to my peers for a while now about live shows, the delivery and execution. What I was expecting before I saw the show and what I got after were two completely different things but by no means was I disappointed. I’ve been interested in The Blow since the release of Paper Television in 2006 with founding members Khaela Maricicha and beat-master Jona Bechtolt (Yacht). Jona has since left the group to focus on his own project, but Khaela Maricicha astonished me with how simplicity with flawless delivery can execute a stellar performance that kept the whole place captivated and brought down the house.

If you haven’t heard the album it is very well put together with Khaela’s vocals over Jona’s simple and spacious, yet very danceable back-beats. And I think maybe I was expecting an almost DJ’d set with each track being mixed into the other and spun off to break the house into two. Instead with only her, a microphone, and a few bottle’s of water (one of which became a prop), in an almost comedy fashion Khaela carried all of us through her journey’s of love, loss, and want. And I don’t know if it’s her look, her confidence, her wit, or a combination of all three that magnetized the crowd like it did, but I was most amazed at how she seemed to self empower every woman in the place to relate to her. I was really impressed. I guess The Blow plays next on April 25th in Bellingham at Western Washington University, and if you get a chance to check the Portland band out I highly suggest it.

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