Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Russian Circles again. The bouncers/door people at the Troubadour were less than friendly, but thats to be expected from a meat-head door staff at a nightclub. Anyway, I arrived late to the show, just before Russian Circles were about to play, so I missed Young Widows and Daughters, who I had seen once before and didn’t really care for.

Russian Circles tore through newer songs from the “Station” album and selections from their first full-length “Enter” as well. My favorite track on the new album is definitely “Youngblood” and I was really glad to hear them play it last night. The band nailed it flawlessly with that precise and heavy guitar riffing, the whole way through. Other highlights were “Carpe” which was great as well.

What’s really amazing is how good Dave Turncrantz is on drums. I’ve complimented his drumming before but last night I got to see him from the side, and I was watching him the most out of all the band members. His kit was a basic 4-piece setup with 2 crash cymbals, a ride and hi-hat. His drum kit was setup on the floor with no drum riser of any kind. I unfortunately didn’t get to see what kind of kit he was playing, as the place was pretty packed and I couldn’t get any other angles. But I have a feeling it was a Gretsch (as pictured above).

However, what I did get to see was his use of creative fills and great sense of rhythm. It’s kind of obvious to mention, but the band would be nothing without this guy’s drumming. He propels the song’s into other passages with ease and does a lot of nasty, complicated fills usually culminating in the climax of the song. He also has a great sense of pushing and pulling the song, which is almost jazz-like.

I’m glad to see that an instrumental band that writes complicated material, can pack out a place like The Troubadour. If Russian Circles are coming through your area, you really should check them out.

So I wasn’t able to get my camera in to the show, but I did see the drummer, Dave Turncrantz’ setup. I was surpirsed to see that he had a very minimal 4-piece setup. To the best of my recollection, at this show he was using 2 crash cymbals and a ride.

As far as Russian Circle’s set as whole, it was amazing. They played with the same tenacity that you hear on their album “Enter” but a lot louder, (obviously) and and with a lot more jamming. At one point during the song “Death Rides A Horse” they let the drums keep on playing this one hypnotic hip-hop style beat, eventually culminating in the rest of the band coming back in with it and just rocking.

The band is working on a follow up record that should be out soon. They should also be touring again soon, I strongly recommend seeing them live if you get the chance. They are phenomenal.