So, I had some time away from Cincinnati. Most readers of this site will remember this post and in the time since then I have found that my path led back to this area. And coming back, one of the things I wanted to do most was get to the Southgate House for a live show.

Well, it didn’t take a week before I got a chance and it was for a band I already enjoy, Blitzen Trapper. Of course the night started with The Moondoggies, who are a force to be reckoned with in their own right. I stepped into the historic house in Newport a couple songs into The Moondoggies set and not only was the ole venue welcoming, but it welcomed me with a non-smoking show. I won’t say anything more about that, but it was a nice treat. The Moondoggies did a nice job warming up a pretty decent SGH crowd, decent meaning there were probably close to two hundred in attendance, despite the fact that it was Fathers Day and a Sunday night to boot.

By the time Blitzen Trapper took the stage and a good portion of the crowd had moved forward to be closer to the action, I think everyone was ready for whatever the guys were going to dish out. The Portland based band launced into “Black River Killer” first, a great track from their second album Furr and it was met with a great deal of enthusiasm from the crowd. Another track from Furr later the crowd was whipped into a frenzy of sorts, at least on the floor, perfect time for the new material right? Wrong. Destroyer Of The Void, the third album from the band has been available to the masses now for a couple of weeks, and even longer to the web savvy fans of today.

The album is every bit as good as Furr in my humble opinion, but for whatever reason that switch that the band flipped starting the show, flipped right off for a good portion of the crowd once the new tunes starting echoing through the ballroom’s walls. I don’t know if the crowd was just unfamiliar with the new material or suddenly uninterested, but after a few new songs, the band course corrected into the title track from Furr and the party was back on again, loads of people sang along to the track and it was obvious what the “hit” was for Blitzen Trapper.

The night capped off with what I found to be a fairly uninteresting encore, despite the solid night of tunes overall. I guess I left the show wondering who was at fault for most of the new material not being well received. Was it the fault of the fan, who really has had enough opportunities to listen to the new album and get into it as much as they seemed to be into its predecessor? Or is it the fault of the band, who despite the obvious difference in reaction to the Destroyer Of The Void material versus the Furr material decided to make their set way heavier on the newer stuff?

I’m siding with the band on this one, the new album is solid, and it needs to be played live. I’m just hoping that over time we see the attention drawn towards the Destroyer songs more and more, cause they are certainly worth the attention.