Imaad Wasif with The Two Part Beast at Spaceland

I ducked out for a quick show on Saturday night (August 30) to see Imaad Wasif with The Two Part Beast who I haven't seen in a while. He always amazes me with the intensity of his live performance, but he really outdid himself that night. He poured his heart and soul into the set and was flattened with exhaustion by the end. After a couple of songs you could see he realized he was really on fire, he muttered, "I love music... I love... because of music". I thought it sounded like a confession of sorts.

If I'm ever in the mood for a heavy dose of '60's style psychedelia, this is the band I like to go see. They played a variety of songs from the CD Strange Hexes and a new song. My favorites were a blistering version of "Wanderlusting" with it's lengthy, crazy Jefferson Airplane-style instrumental ending (putting Imaad flat on his back on the stage), the beautiful "Unveiling" which has a classic rock feel to it and "The Oracle" which is another fine composition. And Imaad is well matched in talent by The Two Part Beast, who are Bob Bruno on bass and drummer Adam Garcia. He was fried by the end of his set and I have to admit, it was the highlight of the evening.

The other bands were New York's Love As Laughter and Oxford Collapse, both playing a kind of serviceable post punk/grunge thing. Not really my style. But Imaad Wasif with The Two Part Beast were the real deal and gave a knock out of a show.

whrabbit