Generationals 7-17-11
Mississippi Studios · Portland, OR
BY TIM HINELY
On record this New Orleans indie pop band is a duo, Ted Joyner and Grant Widner (both were in the Eames Era), but live the band was a 5-piece including a keyboard player and a rhythm section of throwbacks dressed in white t-shirts bandanas around their foreheads and sunglasses. The band seemed genuinely happy to be in Portland ("We love Portland....so do you guys really have like, tons of strip clubs?!") and showed good energy with everyone kicking up some dust in their own little spot on stage.
The Generationals' songs are well-crafted and hooky and while the rhythm section was solid (not great, but fun to watch), the leaders, Ted and Grant, both cranked out inventive guitar lines which gave the songs some extra oomph, as did the swirling keyboards. The crowd was certainly into it as cuts from their latest record Actor-Caster like "Ten Twenty Ten", "Yours Forever" and "I Promise" and their debut (Con Law) sounded ace while they only let a few clunkers slide into the abyss. It was worth missing the season premier of Breaking Bad for (then again, I recorded the TV show).
