I’m pretty good at managing my expectations.  I usually find something good in everything, which makes me a bad critic by many standards. One tactic I use is to make the conscious  desicion very early on, sometimes even before the event, that I am satisfied with the results.  After going to the Verizon Center last Friday night a mere 45 minutes into the doors opening I was satisfied.  The Joy Formidable were the first opener for the Foo Fighters and won me over in their short set.  The three piece group from Wales with their little blond lead have anything but a small sound.  Dave Grohl would later say in his set “they make rock with guitars” and he was right.  Their sound was not a hard driving of separate instruments but more a mysterious melting together of both intentional and ambient sound, using re-verb as skillfully as anything else.  At the apex of their final number, on their hands and knees playing the the peddles while the guitar rested against the amp.  It could have been gimmicky but it worked and they definitely had the chops to be on stage with the Foo Fighters.  Check out this video from SXSW of the last song of their set  – Whirring

Having them open up for the highly anticipated Foo Fighters was a treat and worth it on their own and even if the Foo Fighters hadn’t come out and killed it for 3 F’ing Hours I would have been satisfied.  check them out for your self  http://www.thejoyformidable.com/