Nurses brought their rustic psychedelia to the Vera last night for a low key but really enjoyable set. Since there was no opener opener, Nurses and members of the headlining band, Quasi, started the night with an impromptu jam session. This confirmed two eternal truths: First, Janet Weiss (ex-Sleater-Kinney, current The Jicks and Quasi) is a fantastic drummer and second, “impromptu-jam sessions” are just above “record breaking drum circles” on the difference of enjoyment level between audience members and performers scale (see Figure 1 below) .
(Figure 1)
But the actual show was awesome. Nurses are a weird band with a weird energy that’s both inviting and insular; it’s like you’ve stumbled into friendly mountain commune. Singer/ guitarist/ keyboardist John Bowers strutted around the stage slowly like an exaggerated Velociraptor and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Chapman somehow managed to look shy in a giant beard and red cape. The vocals were shrouded in a deep reverb and electronic flourishes that gently pushed the Nurses’ catchy melodies to the top of the mix. The songs and the atmosphere, they just clicked.
