Seattle – Those Darlins and Diane Coffee played Seattle’s Barboza. I’m going to assert that Those Darlins were having an off night because I refuse to accept that a band with such promise and clout as performers regularly put up such a tiresome act. I still have faith in Those Darlins. Diane Coffee, on the other hand, requires no such blind faith; these guys could make any night a winning success on their own terms.

Diane Coffee, the newest side project of Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming, was enrapturing. Both the music and the performance brought a unique life to the stage. Diane Coffee is not a reinvention of Foxygen, but reminisces of the band’s 1960s California feels. It’s nice, as well, to see Fleming lead the scene whereas in Foxygen frontman Sam France has such a defining presence that he might unintentionally overshadow.

Diane Coffee is, for all intents and purposes, Fleming’s project and a reflection of Fleming’s mind. His supporting musicians, however, bring just as much to the album and performance as Fleming alone. While he leads the team with style, his accompaniment fills out his sound and gives him something to interact with on stage. It elevates him from simple singer-songwriter status to full-blown group artistry.

While they all obviously are taking their music and their work very seriously, there’s still is a sense of simple pleasure. This on-stage attitude forces you to truly pay attention to the delicacies in the music, but allows you to simultaneously take in the “good vibes.” Diane Coffee’s single, “Hymn” was the night’s highlight; it’s the single for a reason! Fun fact to end the night: Fleming was the voice of Jim and Tim Possible in Kim Possible. Child stars to the indie musical rescue!

Those Darlins followed Diane Coffee. The band’s more dance hall blues numbers were always the standouts in the set and, actually, had they just played these songs it would have been an engaging and thorough performance. When Those Darlins are on, they’re on. They can make you want to dance and move while still focusing intently on their performance and act. At the end of the day (or night), however, they just played for way too long and those highlight moments got lost in a sea of mediocrity.  On a side note, the bassist could easily pass for Kurt Vile’s younger brother which is cool.