Concert Review: Von Bondies @ The Blind Pig

Any show that ends with Jason Von Bondie curled at the bottom of a staircase is alright with me. The kids at Ann Arbor‘s Blind Pig last night got to see a band on the rise to stardom and appeared to have a darn good time doing it.

Confident and laid back, the Von Bondies arrived with no set list. It was refreshing to see that big record deals and continual press attention hasn’t persuaded the band to take things too seriously. They wandered on stage and decided what to play on a song-by-song basis. The result was a spontaneity and carelessness that so-called “professional” bands so often lack. Basically, that means they sounded great and were entertaining.

The packed crowd at the Blind Pig really dug the Von Bondies, and legendary record exec Seymour Stein seems to share that sentiment. After two years at the helm of Elektra Records, Stein is reviving his legendary Sire Records. Stein originally founded the label in 1966 and changed the face of rock n’ roll with such bands as The Ramones and The Cure. The new Sire is championing the Von Bondies as a signature act. The album, Pawn Shoppe Heart, was produced by Jerry Harrison (of Talking Heads fame) and will reportedly be released sometime in February or March. — Ryan Sult