I felt my Friday evening would best be summed up in two separate posts; one for the lovable Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, and one for the reason I came to the Vic Theatre for the first place, Kate Nash. This lil’ shout out goes to my peeps in the Trachtenburg Family Clan. If you haven’t heard of this odd and quirky musician family troupe by now, do yourself a favor and head over to their official website to see what they’re all about.

I have to admit this group nearly fell off my radar since I left the glorious days of college radio behind me three long years ago. But as soon as the self-proclaimed “indie-vaudeville conceptual art-rock pop band” family took to the stage, my head quickly filled with remembrance. Memory association almost immediately linked the tastes of chili cheese corn Fritos and that disgusting cherry mountain dew; and suddenly everything that was so horribly wonderful about college radio came back to me in a flash. The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players were a staple at WRST FM. Almost every free format shift at some point or another would stumble across a copy of Vintage Slideshow Collections from Seattle, Vol I or Adventures in Middle America, Vol II.

The Trachtenburgs’ quirky songs are based on various slideshows the family finds from estate sales, garage sales, rummage sales and thrift stores, and their goal is to make pop music based on the lives of “anonymous, deceased strangers.” The stage set up was centered around a large AV screen which featured the humorous and off-beat slides of various song subjects, from those as basic as “Eggs,” which was considered a “greatest hit,” by Jason, the father of the group to my personal favorite, “Mountain Trip to Japan 1959,” which showed exactly what you would guess, a mountain trip—to Japan, although I’m not sure there was any evidence it was in 1959. The highlight of the 30-minute set was the humorous “Look at Me,” which Jason bragged had been performed at Conan 2 years prior, mocking himself that he’s already “name dropping like nobody’s business two songs into the set.”

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Kate Nash is definitely a fan as well; later on in her set she even brought out the littlest Trachtenburg, daughter Rachel out with her friend who make up the duo the Oh My God Girls. Together, the Oh My God Girls brought the adorability factor to an all time high, performing the classic “Brand New Key,” with Nash on the piano and her band backing up the charade. When Nash would forget the words, Rachel was there to back it up—it was clear who was in charge here with the Oh My God Girls.

Father Trachtenburg explained the reasoning behind their opening spot on Nash’s first headlining North American tour. Apparently, Nash had been a fan and approached the Trachtenburgs at a London show, picking up their 45 and introducing herself. When both artists had been reunited at SXSW, Nash mentioned a nation tour the next month and not two days later, her agent had phoned up the Trachtenburg family. Thus, spawned the inspirational song “Let’s Go on Tour with Kate.”

It’s always interesting to come across a multi-media form of entertainment and the Trachtenburg family brought singing, music, slideshows and a feeling of wholesome warmth that is pretty much non-existent by today’s standards of rock’n’roll. The Trachtenburgs definitely provided the perfect opening performance to set the feel for what was yet to follow that evening, the one and only Kate Nash.

Myspace: Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players