Otoboke Beaver with Gladie

Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA— The six massive pillars in the middle of Underground Arts make the stage invisible to big chunks of the room, and when it’s a sold out show like this one, finding an even halfway decent sight line can be next to impossible if you don’t get there early. I’ve been burned by this a few times now, so I think going forward I’ll need to commit to early arrival or just skip the show.

Tonight I ended up in the corner of the room, practically behind the stage and definitely on the wrong side of the speakers, so the sound wasn’t great. But considering that I’ve contemplated traveling abroad to see Otoboke Beaver on multiple occasions, I still feel incredibly lucky that they’ve come to Philly twice now, and no matter where you are in the room, they deliver. Plus my unfavorable position came with a silver lining: Unlike my last Otoboke Beaver show, this time I had a great view of Kahokiss, drummer extraordinaire, and she just might be my new favorite part of the band. Watching her effortlessly navigating the songs’ many hairpin turns, alternating between chaotic noise and bouncy pop, and clearly having a ton of fun as she did, was a real treat. And seeing it all unfold up close and from an uncommon vantage gave me a bit of the magical feel of a kid visiting the cockpit.