Grizzzzy Bear/The Sailing/Toads and Mice/Romance of the Young Tigers @ Nite Owl 3.14.08

...as night fell on the Oregon District, waves of people moved throughout the district as gallery openings and art events dotted the area. Outside of the Nite Owl, music lovers gathered in support of Squids Eye Records' celebration of their first year. With lines pouring out the door, this was one of the biggest events of the season. Before things got under way over there, we stopped in to Jasper Wall Cafe to catch the young Jordan Hull, performing as part of the Echos Dayton for March...



...opening the evening over at the Nite Owl, the ambient/noise outfit Romance of the Young Tigers perplexed most audients, but left us with a sense that perhaps in more inviting environs they could become a truly captivating experience...




...next up was our favorite set of the evening, Toads and Mice. While the set got off to a rather slow start, by mid-set the band had hit its stride and in front of a capacity audience proceeded to demonstrate why they are truly one of the best bands in Dayton today...




...with their debut disc coming out later this spring on Squids Eye Records, The Sailing delivered an inspired set of hair-flailing anthemic rock. With their prog tendencies in full display, their high-energy set impressed us, although we felt they could have made a stronger impact with a slightly shorter set. Regardless, we are very much looking forward to their debut disc...




...closing out the evening, Grizzzzy Bear whipped the audience into a frenzy as the throng charged toward the stage. As we endure the band's stylistic shift into a prog/metal stance, we were left somewhat bemused as much of the band's strongest material off their debut disc was left off the setlist. Clearly, Grizzzy Bear continues to find its footing with the new lineup, but with so much obvious talent we are more than willing to follow them down the rabbit hole...




we'd like to thank Tony Gilbert and everyone at Squids Eye Records for an amazing night and for proving that Dayton music is still, very much, alive and well. For more photos from the show, head over here....