Vox and Mallman

Vox Vermillion

I figured that since both Vox Vermillion and Mark Mallman were going to be out of town for a while, I should go check out their “farewell” show at the Entry (Saturday, October 1).

Vox Vermillion will be avoiding the Minnesota winter by hanging out in California with Murs (he and Slug released Vox’s latest record on their surprisingly non-hip-hop label, Women Records). The trio is leaving their day jobs behind in order to focus entirely on music (writing and playing shows) while they’re in California. I’m interested in hearing the end result. Perhaps by bypassing winter, their new songs won’t be so depressing. Just wait and see; they’re going to be the next Polyphonic Spree.

Anyway, Vox’s set was great as usual. The cool thing about Vox Vermillion is that they are very good at not playing the same show twice. I’ve seen them about a thousand times this year, and they’ve managed to seem fresh every time. This show, although they still didn’t have a drummer, wasn’t as subdued as some of their shows in the past. It wouldn’t even be much of a stretch to say that they rocked.

Mark Mallman won’t be gone quite as long a Vox Vermillion (he’s just going on tour). Nevertheless, the overall sexual energy of the Twin Cities will be down significantly while he’s away. So I’m glad I got to see him ride his keyboard like a horse one last time before he left. He didn’t play any 52.4-hour-long songs this time, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t over-the-top. I delighted in his excessiveness.


Mark Mallman

Archives:
Vox Vermillion @ The 7th Street Entry: July 9, 2005
Vox Vermillion @ The Triple Rock: March 26, 2005
Vox Vermillion @ The Triple Rock: February 14, 2005
Mark Mallman @ Emo’s Annex (SXSW): March 17, 2005