Saturday marked a debut, a homecoming and a building relationship for the three bands that played at Planet 505 on Westcott Street.

The Air Kick Pigeon Band made their first live appearance ever, after releasing Broome last spring. The brainchild of Syracuse University senior Albert Birney, Air Kick is a local supergroup of sorts, featuring Birney, formerly of The Spinto Band, Dan Lane of Earl’s Garage, Scott Weiner of The Martha Dumptruck Massacre and cartoonist/filmmaker/harmonica extraordinaire Phil Davis. Air Kick played a short but memorable six-song set that included banjo breakdowns, atmospheric synth-laced intros and a solid half-dozen fake endings.

Next, guitarist Jon Eaton played his first show at Planet 505 since graduating from Syracuse in the spring. With him was The Spinto Band, down one member but overflowing with energy. Playing tighter than ever and featuring a stable of new songs, The Spinto Band thoroughly rocked the crowd. With three guitars, bass, drums and keys, The Spinto Band creates a wall of sound that gives their sunny pop a hard edge. Several of the band members are natural frontmen and project a carefree ease on stage that matches the charm of their airtight pop songs.

After playing a string of favorites, including ‘Puff Daddy Blowjob Movement,’ ‘Small Burg’ and ‘Late,’ Birney rejoined his old bandmates for a rousing rendition of ‘Tractor.’

‘Where my dogs at?’ The Spinto Band asked the crowd in the rap-heavy finale.

The wound-up crowd responded as the band performed perfectly choreographed dance moves: ‘We’re right here, dog!’

The last band of the night was the immensely talented Townhall from Philadelphia. Making their fourth appearance in Syracuse since last fall, their repeated visits have started to pay dividends. The front of the stage was mobbed all night with fans singing along to their rootsy funk rock.

After starting with some jam funk songs, Townhall put the clamps on their sound for the rest of the night and played an uncharacteristically hard-and-fast set that hinted at an evolving sound for the quintet. Highlights included a raucous, ‘Running Man,’ 21st-century protest song, ‘Peaceful Man’ and the set-closer, ‘New Song.’ After 2 a.m., the horn-driven Hendrix classic, ‘Crosstown Traffic,’ capped off the performance and a great night of music.

Published on October 6, 2003 at 12:00 pm