Crooked fingers is a Denver band that had lead singer and founder Eric Bachmann thanking the crowd for coming early.  It is sad how people's definition of on time for a show has become being in time for the headliner.  His appreciation was thoughtful all the same.  After setting up a new drum set in front of Devotchka's which was used by the first opener, they began playing.  It was first only Bachmann on guitar which rattled the snare, but Devotchka's violinist Tom Hagerman came on adding a barely audible part, though the volume did get a little better further on.  For this one time of their performance, Bachmann's singing tone reminded me of Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard. At the end of the song, bassist and back up vocalist Miranda Brown wandered on stage with a glass of wine and drummer Tim Hussman.  I liked the first song, so more people/instruments might equal even more enjoyment though this is not always the case.  Luckily it was this time with a kind of rock/folk/country type of singing that surprised me.  I was expecting the cheesiness heard on their albums, but it came across very well in the live experience. 

The second song lingered into the next which was a duet between Bachmann and Brown and was amazing when it got going.  This was movie soundtrack quality and simply went far beyond my initial expectations.  Before the next song, the band was introduced; It is an old tradition now made corny, but an honorable act.  The singing was not amazing in itself, but was good and it worked with the music.  The fifth song sounded like a cover, though I could not place it. The violinist played very well in this song, as with all the others.  There was a sound sample of someone speaking at the end which finished the song.  After this, the next song marched a steady beat to a not so strong chorus as it led us to expect, but continued to a nice instrumental.  After the song that wow'ed me, the music dropped a bit in excitement, though was still good.  Still, it is too bad they dropped and platoued through almost the rest of the show.  I no longer was expecting to be amazed.  Perhaps "Your Control" should have been the encore. 

The violinist left for the following song and the drummer pulled out a cylinder shaped shaker and mallet.  While the song did not go anywhere, it was a good one.  Also, they did not have any other songs like this, so it was not such a crime.  Neither was the off key part of the next song that appeared to be on purpose and worked for the music.  The next song was one of the ones on their new album which featured Miranda making a neat singing sound through a distorted megaphone.  This hook for the song brought their music out of the meeting expectations mode, though did not top "Your Control".

The violinist came back for the last song which was carried by drum rolls; A cheap trick that is usually effective for driving a song, but it really worked for this song, so it is hard to criticize.  This song was a quality piece of music like their whole set and much easier to buy into than the albums.  Though the singing style became predictable, the show was great and they would be something to look forward to seeing for a second time.