POP MUSIC REVIEW : A Night of Casual Party-Jam and Tear Gas

A large bang and billowing clouds of what felt like mild tear gas abruptly ended Sunday night’s packed show at the Troubadour. A member of the band DFL, which includes Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys), lobbed the canister onto the crowded floor, sending fans scampering onto Santa Monica Boulevard. Audience members complained of nausea and burning eyes, though none called the police or fire department to report the incident. The band and its management had no comment as of Monday morning.

It’s unfortunate that such a bonehead stunt was pulled at a show where the lineup of underground rock superstars like Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth (leading her side-band, Free Kitten) and Evan Dando of the Lemonheads (in a brief, mellow acoustic set) would have proved memorable on their own. Most of Sunday’s artists had played the second stage at Lollapalooza on Saturday, so this loose evening had almost the feeling of a casual after-show party-jam.

In truth, the boring and unoriginal hardcore quartet DFL was the only act that didn’t provide any musical interest. An abrasive set by Gordon’s side-group Free Kitten, on the other hand, was intriguing in an oddball way. Gordon harmonized with her out-of-tune guitar, then screeched over tangles of mainly deconstructed rock riffs and booming bass.

Dos, a duo made up of bassist Mike Watt of Firehose (and formerly the Minutemen) and his wife, Kira, former bassist for Black Flag, were smooth and cool in a loungy, smoky sort of way, plucking skewed versions of old country and blues standards.