" Are they American Pants?" Megafaun & Caitlin Rose, The Band Room, Farndale 29.8.10

Megafaun at the Band Room. Picture courtesy of the band's tumblr page

In the months since tickets were bought (largely on the insistence of the Mrs) for this, I had become less and less bothered by my impending third visit to the band room (and the second to see Megafaun there), largely due to the fact that, as good as Megafaun’s ‘Gather, Form and Fly’ is, it just doesn’t pull me in, it’s not a record I’ve been back to very often since I first happened across it last year. But then, to my surprise it was announced that a certain Caitlin Rose would, for one night only, be playing with them, which made me very bothered about it indeed.


Her (drummerless) band’s set draws chiefly from her debut LP ‘Own Side Now’. , ‘For the Rabbits’, ‘Spare Me’ and the title track shining particularly brightly. At the tender age of 23, the fact that she’s already penned songs as well crafted as these suggests she could be capable of breaking through, perhaps not into the mainstream, but certainly to a much larger audience than tonight’s.

I had clearly forgotten just how much I had enjoyed seeing Megafaun here back in December, and once again, they did not disappoint. Addressing the crowd like old friends, and clearly feeling at home, their set was comparatively lacking in the segues of ‘Gather, Form & Fly’ and the last time they played here. ‘The Longest Day’ had me, once again, on the brink of tears, and, as it did 9 months ago ‘Worried Mind’ provokes a mass sing-along. And then another, as the band come back on stage for their encore, the crowd sings refrain back at them, and you can tell, you can just tell, they’ll be back here again soon.