Thursday 30/03/06 Rogue Wave @ Noise Pop, San Francisco

Rogue Wave are no stranger to the Bay Area and the Noise Pop Festival. They played last year and have played countless clubs and venues all over Oakland and San Francisco. Tonight, however, they are playing their first show at Bimbo’s and are rather excited to be there. Having been on the road for months with Nada Surf and playing all over SXSW, they've have had a short recuperation and are ready to give this one show all of their attention for the fans who have seen them before and to win over new ones as well. From the minute they walk out, it is apparent that the crowd (which keeps increasing in numbers all night to the point of bursting out of the club) have been waiting for this show for some time.

They come out on stage with each member wearing all white, right down to their shoes, looking almost like an angelic rock choir. They open tonight as they open their latest album 'Descended Like Vultures', with the track 'Bird On A Wire'. Pat Spurgeon, drummer, begins with a building drumroll that comes crashing into the intro of the song as Zach Rogue begins to work his magic on the crowd. (Which is having quite an effect on the girls in the front row.) Rogue has an ability to sing his songs to seemingly no one at all, and everyone at the same time. As he looks over the audience, he almost seems to be singing to the rafters…yet you’d almost swear he was looking right at you.

From there the band launch into crowd favorite 'Every Moment' which, again, sees Spurgeon working the drums masterfully with the songs almost tribal beat pulsing through the majority of the song. The club’s lighting seems to be providing an almost separate show, reflecting off of their all-white ensemble and turning them into walking kaleidoscopes. The band keep the momentum going with several upbeat songs, culminating with the rocking 'Sewn Up' before launching into a few slower songs, such as 'Are You On My Side' which features band members Gram Lebron and Evan Farrell providing haunting harmonies over Rogue’s soft, almost whispered lyrics.