Tag: show review

Show Review: The Dismemberment Plan [Metro; Chicago; 2/19/11]

On 02/21/2011

In chicago, mp3, music, photos, show review

At this point in time, a full-on Dismemberment Plan reunion is still pending. Sure, you can call the several live dates the band has scheduled an effective reunion, but really it’s more like a collection of one-offs. As the guys describe it themselves, they’re going to play some dates, see how it goes, and figure things out from there. It has been close th 8 years since they broke up, though at least a couple of the guys have had their own musical projects since then. Travis Morrison went solo, which turned into failure on a massive scale, then formed the Travis Morrison Hellfighters, which went down in flames. That resulted in Morrison officially “retiring” from making music, touring, and other such things in 2010. Clearly that didn’t last too long. Additionally, Eric Axelson spent a couple years playing bass in the band Maritime before leaving to start up Statehood with former D-Plan drummer Joe Easley. At this point, Statehood is on a break, if not permanently disbanded due to the death of singer Clark Sabine. So with all the guys essentially not doing a whole lot these days music-wise, and with Morrison hopefully learning a thing or two from that slice of humble pie served to him courtesy of a not-so-hot solo career, The Dismemberment Plan is tentatively back, at the very least to maybe and briefly cash in on a legacy that was never properly heralded in its time. With reunions all the rage these days, why not? Really they’re claiming that the very few tour dates they’ve played (and the one more still scheduled for March) are more part of a celebration of the “Emergency & I” remastered vinyl reissue that came out last month. Anyways, after returning from a couple days in Japan, the band played two Chicago dates (their only Midwest shows) this past weekend. I was privileged enough to attend the first one on Saturday night, and here’s a brief recap of how that whole thing went down.

One of the really nice things that The Dismemberment Plan did for their Chicago shows was to recruit a couple of local bands to open for them on each of their two nights in town. Saturday night JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound along with Kid You’ll Move Mountains were the chosen ones. I’m familiar with and can recommend both of them, though unfortunately a tight schedule prevented me from seeing their sets on Saturday. Instead, I ran straight inside from the entrance doors just in time to catch The Dismemberment Plan emerging on stage and making a short introduction before launching into “Emergency & I” opener “A Life of Possibilities”. It was a fine choice, particularly considering that it’s a tradition for bands to open with the first track on the album they’re promoting. As the track itself goes, things started out just a little bit slow and sparse, but when the bridge finally hits, it explodes into something magical. And so it went, a pretty verbatim version of the track, if not slightly more energized and refined than before, and the crowd ate it up with the intensity and pleasure you might expect from seeing a great band for either the very first time or the first time in a very long time. Faring even better was “The Face of the Earth”, which haa a great energy about it that got everybody riled up, including the band. One gets the impression from the way the crowd reacted that even sub-par live versions of so many “classic” songs would have satisfied, but thankfully The D-Plan are a better band than that. Despite having only played a handful of shows in the last couple months after years apart, they sounded just about perfect, and every song was either album quality or better, with Morrison’s often bizarre stage antics and some ferocious guitar and drums work.

Speaking of Travis Morrison, his banter was typically witty, first dedicating the show to the union workers in Wisconsin currently staging protest, then demanding that everyone look at his new orange kicks (shoes) and refusing to play another song until everyone did and complimented them. So you know, a little of this, and a little of that. There was some rousing cheering for what amounted to perhaps the most amazing double tambourine attack I’ve ever seen (though it may also be the only double tambourine playing I’ve ever seen), and also a sing-along of Biz Markie’s legendary “Just A Friend” that started on stage between songs as just a joke before the crowd took over and made it something more. But of course there were highlights peppered all throughout the D-Plan’s set, as they pulled from all their albums and even the somewhat rare “The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich” off their split EP with the band Juno (the song is also available as a bonus on the vinyl reissue of “Emergency & I”). It was really damn exciting to hear thoroughly charged renditions of “Following Through”, “Superpowers” and “Gyroscope”, among others. Naturally though, the band’s most popular songs were the ones that sounded best, from a strong “You Are Invited” to “What Do You Want Me to Say?” and “Time Bomb”. I was exceptionally happy to hear “Ellen and Ben”, which is perhaps my favorite Dismemberment Plan song. They closed out the main set as they typically do, with an extended and oft-improvised version of “OK Joke’s Over” from their first record. Morrison went on and on about a number of things, naturally personalizing it for Chicago and sports and such, while also doing just a touch of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. Excellent as usual, and that only extended into the encore. Tons of people got on stage for “The Ice of Boston”, and what shocked me the most about it was that it sounded absolutely perfect both instrumentally and vocally despite the everyone jumping around and singing at the top of their lungs. Moving from that to a scorching version of “The City” was the 1-2 knockout punch of the night. Really the encore handled every last D-Plan highlight you could have wanted that hadn’t already been played. Ending on the “Emergency & I” closer “Back and Forth”, complete with the crowd waving their hands in the air was just sort of a communal coming together and ultimate lovefest. There we all were, a sold out crowd together to celebrate the career of a great band and singing along every step of the way. For that two hour period, though nobody would openly acknowledge it, we were all family.

It is, without a doubt, wonderful to see The Dismemberment Plan together on stage once again and playing a majority of their stellar catalogue. Even if their final scheduled date in Seattle next month is their last, those of us that caught any of the shows in the past couple months hopefully will carry those memories with us for a long time to come. All the guys legitimately looked like they were having fun on stage and it really does sell the idea that they should keep this whole “reunion” train going. If they really wanted to, they could just pull a Pavement and play a bunch of shows over the course of the year before returning to their normal, everyday working lives. Or they could push for something more full time by writing new material and putting out at least one more record. Thinking about it now in the purest of retrospectives, I’ll be highly satisfied whatever they choose to do (or not do) from here on out. If they come back through Chicago I’ll be sure to see them again, and it’d be nice if people in cities other than the few they’ve played had a chance to see them too. If they release a new album, I’ll probably buy it sight unseen and note unheard. But if they want to legitimately retire from music, as Travis Morrison said he’d be doing last year (before any rumors of a reunion ever emerged), at least they popped their collective heads up for one quick go-around. It’s certainly better than the alternative of doing nothing.

Set List:
A Life of Possibilities
The Face of the Earth
Rusty
Spider in the Snow
Following Through
You Are Invited
Superpowers
What Do You Want Me to Say?
That’s When the Party Started
Time Bomb
Memory Machine
The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich
Gyroscope
Ellen and Ben
Do the Standing Still
Girl O’Clock
OK Joke’s Over
\**ENCORE**/
The Ice of Boston
The City
Pay for the Piano
I Love A Magician
Back and Forth

MP3s:
The Dismemberment Plan – The Face of the Earth
The Dismemberment Plan – Time Bomb
The Dismemberment Plan – Ellen and Ben
The Dismemberment Plan – What Do You Want Me to Say?
The Dismemberment Plan – The City

Buy the “Emergency & I” remastered vinyl reissue from Amazon

Click through the jump for more photos!

Show Review: Mister Heavenly + Screaming Females [Lincoln Hall; Chicago; 1/14/11]

By Faronheit

On 01/17/2011

In live music, mp3, music, photos, show review

It takes a lot of courage to buy a ticket to a show from a band that you haven’t heard one note from. Of course the comfort level is automatically increased if you know the band is comprised of members whose musical talents you trust. In the fall of 2009, I willingly purchased a ticket to see a little band now known as Them Crooked Vultures at their very first show ever. Nobody knew what kind of product the combination of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones would produce, but it turned out to be the start of something great. It was with that same shaky confidence that I made the decision to go see Mister Heavenly on Friday night. Unlike Them Crooked Vultures though, Mister Heavenly have already played a small handful of shows, all of which resulted in a whole lot of press coverage thanks to their very special guest on bass, the perennial awkward teen known as Michael Cera. But Cera had nothing to do with the formation of Mister Heavenly, nor is he an “official” member of the band. What makes this band attention worthy even without a celebrity presence is the collaboration between three great indie talents that are already well known in their own rights. Nick Diamonds is best known for his work as part of the band Islands and, formerly, The Unicorns. Honus Honus is better known as the frontman for the wild group Man Man. Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer helps to make this trio complete. The original intention was to just put together a one-off 7-inch instrumental single, but once the creative juices got flowing, an entire album poured out. As it was revealed at the show on Friday, that album will be released by Sub Pop this September (tentatively). Coincidentally though, Mister Heavenly chose to release their first two songs ever just hours before they were set to take the stage in Chicago. Outside of some rough YouTube videos filmed on some earlier tour dates, this was the first legitimate glimpse into the band’s material, which up until then bore only the description of a new genre called “doom-wop”. In a nutshell, it is intended to combine the classic doo-wop melodies with the tragic tales that are doomed love songs. More on that and the show in a minute, but first let’s talk opening bands.

The Mister Heavenly show was yet another part of the 5-night festival called Tomorrow Never Knows. Earlier in the week I saw a bill that included Lia Ices, Frankie Rose and the Outs, and The Besnard Lakes. The idea behind the shows, which take place at a couple different venues around Chicago, is to give exposure to a number of up-and-coming artists. Aside from Mister Heavenly headlining on Friday night, the bill was also shared by New York band The Dig, former Q and Not U/Georgie James member John Davis performing under the name Title Tracks, and New Jersey underground female-fronted punk band Screaming Females. As I was spending time with friends, I missed the first two sets of the night, though I have heard and can recommend both The Dig and Title Tracks as bands worth checking out if you haven’t yet. But speaking exclusively about Screaming Females, whose set I saw all of, if you’re not aware of this trio, you need to jump on them quick. Frontwoman Marissa Paternoster is a one person wrecking ball, and all of us are standing in her way. If she doesn’t take you down with her immensely skilled guitar playing, she’ll do so with a scream so intense that a microphone isn’t needed to hear it across a crowded room. Mike Abbate’s bass work is almost equally as good, strongly recalling the highly melodic work of Green Day’s Mike Dirnt. He might consider that comparison to be insulting, but personally I think that Dirnt is among the top 10 bass players active today. Then there’s drummer Jarrett Dougherty, who completely wails on his kit with little regard for common decency. Put these three powerhouses together and it makes sense as to why Screaming Females are a band very much on the rise. That they’ve done so almost entirely on their own terms without much support save from their tiny label Don Giovanni Records is even more impressive. They don’t need a marketing team – the music and the live shows speak for themselves. Sonically, the band holds strong ties to Sleater-Kinney, as Paternoster’s guitar and vocals are remarkably Carrie Brownstein-esque. The energy, the outrage and the pure, unadultrated guitar solos have the ability to send shivers down your spine. That was the case right from the beginning of their set at Lincoln Hall, as the large crowd went from a state of calm to a fever pitch in a matter of minutes. There may not have been any mosh pits, as with the punk rock there certainly could have been, but the reaction in pure applause and cheering was testimony enough as to how well they were doing. To put it another way, Mister Heavenly had their work cut out for them after such an inspired set by Screaming Females.

A high degree of “jockeying for position” happened once Screaming Females walked off the stage. People were looking for the best vantage points, most likely in which to see Michael Cera, so there was a bit of pushing and shoving and mean looks being thrown around at the sheer annoyance of it all. Looking around at the crowd demographics, it was close to a 50-50 male/female spread. Given that most indie bands draw a much higher percentage of men over women, you kind of knew what everyone had shown up for: the bass player in Mister Heavenly. The crowd cheered wildly as all four guys walked out on stage, though there was a rather funny moment right before they launched into their first song where a small group of people gave a shout-out to Honus Honus. Earlier show reviews seemed to emphasize the distracting nature of having Michael Cera on stage with the rest of the band, saying that the crowds kept yelling quotes from his movies before, during, and between songs. While that did happen once or twice, including a, “Let Michael tell us a story!”, for the most part people were respectful of the music and cheered appropriately for the songs themselves and not any one thing in particular (the cameras, however, were an entirely different matter). Speaking of the songs, the band opened with their self-titled track “Mister Heavenly”, which was one of the two songs they had released for free earlier in the day. I was unable to download and listen to them prior to going to the show, but apparently a lot of people were, to the point where they already had the lyrics memorized. There were at least three people I saw surrounding me that sang along for all of that and the other just-released song “Pineapple Girl” later in the set. Celebrity influence or not, hopefully this band is going to make an impact. Their “doom-wop” sound is interesting to say the least, largely coming off as what it’d sound like if one guy from Islands and one guy from Man Man got together and had a 1950’s-era musical baby. So there’s a hook-riddled pop edge to the songs courtesy of Nick Diamonds that’s balanced out by the experimental and odd quirks Honus Honus brings to the table. It’s all held together by Joe Plummer’s almost equally strong presence behind the drum kit. Cera is a capable bass player, but given he’s not an official member of the band and didn’t record the debut album with them, most anybody with strong knowledge of the instrument could have jumped in and done an equally excellent job. Of course not anybody can deliver an awkward punchline quite the way Cera can, which meant that some stage banter revealed some extra amusing moments. A sample:
Nick Diamonds: Hey Mike, what’s your favorite cheese?
Michael Cera: My favorite cheese? Oh, well I’d have to go with Havarti. Does anybody here love Havarti cheese?
(crowd cheers loudly)
The band then plays another song. After the song…
Nick Diamonds: Hey Mike, what’s your favorite cheese?
Michael Cera: I Havarti told you once.
(cue rimshot)
Jokes don’t get much cleaner than that. Nicely played. But beyond corny jokes like that one, Both Nick Diamonds and Honus Honus tried to give the crowd some insight as to how they came up with certain song titles and lyrics. For example, the song “Diddy Eyes” is apparently about the basketball player Rolando Blackman and how, in a photo they saw of him, his eyes looked just like Diddy’s (or P. Diddy or Puff Daddy or Sean Combs or whatever name he’s going by these days). That’s a weird and funny thing to write a song about, though it does leave me wondering if they were just kidding when telling that story. Another song was written in reaction to a series of sniper shootings that were happening around New York at the time they were writing the album. “The shootings happened on a night just like this. In a room just like this. From very high up, just like the balcony in here,” Diamonds said, messing with us. Outside of playing most (if not all) the songs slated to appear on the Mister Heavenly debut album, the band also brought out a cover or two. They did “Bad Man” by The Oblivions about halfway through the set, and for their encore totally rocked out to The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments”. That legitimately started a mosh pit courtesy of about 5-6 people, leaving everyone else annoyed at all the intense pushing and shoving going on. But it was a fun way to end the night, which was also Honus’ birthday, as revealed at the start of said encore. He was wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey too, so more power to him for that, as well as coming out and talking to people after the show. The same goes for Nick Diamonds, who I was able to chat with briefly before finally giving up thanks to so many people jumping in and interrupting. Among the information I was able to extract was that A) Honus and Diamonds shared songwriting duties on the Mister Heavenly debut album, tentatively scheduled for release in September and B) Diamonds returns to his main band Islands next month when they’ve got some studio time booked to make a new record. He’s got about 35 songs written and they plan on picking the best ones for the album before doing an Islands tour in the late summer/early fall. No official word on future Mister Heavenly tour plans, but it can be assumed they’ll be back on the road together around the album’s September release.

So overall it was a very fun night, with the wild and technically impressive Screaming Females playing alongside the highly amusing and pleasantly catchy throwback style of Mister Heavenly. Both were great for entirely different reasons, and both are absolutely worth seeing, though they’ll never play together again methinks. Separately though, check them out. The biggest hope that I have from the night is that it inspired some people just showing up to see Michael Cera in person to actually become invested in either Mister Heavenly or indie rock in general. If it takes a Hollywood star to get you into this type of music, then so be it. The more people we have listening to challenging artists and bands, the better off we’ll be as a society. Now then, check out more photos, the set list, and download two songs from Mister Heavenly after the jump (click on a photo to view a slightly larger version).

Show Review: The Besnard Lakes + Frankie Rose and the Outs + Lia Ices [Lincoln Hall; Chicago; 1/13/11]

By Faronheit

On 01/14/2011

In chicago, live music, music, show review

If you live in Chicago and have a deep appreciation for music, you should know about the Tomorrow Never Knows festival. It’s a 5-night event taking place at a few venues around the city, featuring the newest of the new when it comes to buzz bands. The lineups are traditionally diverse and equally excellent, and this year features such luminaries as The Helio Sequence, Sun Airway, Handsome Furs, Mister Heavenly (Islands/Man Man/Modest Mouse), Marketa Irglova (of The Swell Season), Freddie Gibbs and Twin Shadow. The lineup I was most looking forward to was Thursday night’s show that featured Chicago band A Lull, fresh Jagjaguwar signee Lia Ices, the positively lovely Frankie Rose and the Outs, and the psychedelic stylings of The Besnard Lakes. Every one of those artists is great for different reasons, and that’s a big part of what makes Tomorrow Never Knows such fun. So while I typically take a 3 month sabbatical from going to shows (perchance there is a terrible snowstorm to deal with), upon checking the forecast earlier this week and seeing no threat of severe weather, I risked it and picked up a ticket for Thursday night. As hoped, everything cooperated.

Okay, so maybe everything didn’t fully cooperate. I had hoped to make it out to Lincoln Hall at the very start of the show, but ran into a half-hour delay . As a result, I missed the opening set from A Lull, one of Chicago’s better local bands. They’ve got a new record called “Confetti” coming out on Mush Records in April, and probably played a bunch of stuff from that. Keep this band on your radar though, big things are expected of them in the coming months and years. Anyways, I did make it to the venue just in time to catch Lia Ices at the start of her set. For those not in the know, Lia Ices is a female singer-songwriter from Brooklyn with a healthy bit of attention swinging her way as Jagjaguwar prepares to release her new record “Grown Unknown” a couple weeks from now. Her instrument of choice is the piano, but there’s plenty of guitar and other elements at work in her songs both on record and in the live setting thanks to a backing band. The crowd for her set was moderately sized, as these things tend to go when you’re the second of four acts on a bill. All for an artist that the majority of them had never heard before. She played most of the tracks from her forthcoming record to what might best be described as a warm audience response. Ices makes a good mixture of slower balladry and more upbeat pop numbers, both executed with a formality and classic ideologies. On stage, as lovely as she is, Ices is still a bit…icy. There was a certain awkwardness about her set that was made most apparent as she tried a little bit of between songs banter. There were points where it seemed like she wasn’t sure what to say next, only that she should say SOMETHING. That’s not to say she’s a bad performer, rather it speaks to her relative inexperience with live shows. Surely she’s done a reasonable amount of touring prior to now, but it’s going to take a bit more for her to appear truly comfortable in front of a large group of people. A lengthy tour in support of her new album should push her a long way in the right direction. I’d be interested to see her again in a year to find out how she’s developed as a performer. Her new record certainly sounded promising the way she played it on stage, and I’m looking forward to giving it a full review in the next couple weeks.

Lia Ices – Grown Unknown
Lia Ices – Daphne

While Lia Ices wound up being one woman’s songs performed with a backing band of all guys, Frankie Rose and the Outs was one woman’s songs performed with a backing band of all girls. Of course the Outs are a little more significant presence, as they are part of the official band name, and are actively participating in the writing of new material. Pretty much everything on the band’s self-titled debut record was written by Rose though, and she’s the official star of the show – like Huey Lewis is to the News. Frankie Rose is a bit notorious these days for having joined and then quit three different rising and important bands in the last couple years. She was on board drumming with Vivian Girls just as they made their name, then left/was asked to leave and wound up as drummer for Crystal Stilts, who then blew up big. Then there was Dum Dum Girls, who’ve also done well in the past year. But it was a handful of months ago when Rose just decided that maybe fronting her own band was the easiest way to go. She may have been best known for her drumming, but she was equally skilled at guitar and could sing, so why not. She put the Outs together piece by piece, so much so that she taught one of her friends how to drum from scratch so that girl could be part of the band. The debut record turned out great, and in fact just barely missed my top 50 albums list of 2010. The music is very lo-fi garage rock a la her former bands Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls, but in this case there’s also some sharper edges and innovations to help it stand out from the fray. Performing live, Frankie Rose and the Outs are a thing to behold: vibrant, exciting, and noisy as all hell. The technical skill is impressive on its own, lest you forget the songs are pretty dynamite as well. The best artists are able to take their recorded product and breathe new, even better life into it on stage. This band has that going for them, and as a result that bodes very well for their future. Not only that, but Rose comes off as a very interesting and fun personality, and her between song banter was nothing short of witty. The singular gripe that comes along with this set is that it was far too short. Yes, the songs themselves aren’t exactly long, but they plowed through 10 songs in about 25 minutes when their allotted time was 45 minutes. Given that there were a couple of new songs thrown in amongst the ones already on record, there were still a few more the band could have played. Instead they said goodnight, leaving the crowd begging for more but not getting any. After the show I made a small complaint via Twitter about the short set, and apparently a few others did the same, because Rose addressed the issue via her Twitter account, basically saying that they played a full set, and while it may have only been 20 or so minutes long, it felt like 3 hours to her. That was later followed by a couple amusing Tweets first saying she’s going to start playing 4 hour sets, then trying to say that as a non-headlining band, you don’t want to take too long and have to be told to stop. Whatever. We got 10 thrilling and loud songs out of the band, even with some small sound problems early on (they didn’t get a soundcheck), it was one hell of a show. Go see Frankie Rose and the Outs should you have the opportunity.

Frankie Rose and the Outs – Candy
Frankie Rose and the Outs – Little Brown Haired Girls

With Frankie Rose and the Outs finishing early, that gave The Besnard Lakes a little extra time to set up/start early. They did both, not that it really mattered because they still would’ve had buffer time if things had gone as planned from the beginning. But The Besnard Lakes are coming off a highly successful year that saw them release a stellar sophmore record titled “Are the Roaring Night” (that was among my Top 50 Albums of 2010) and embark on an extensive tour around the world that after a few months is just now wrapping up. The last time the band was in Chicago was over the summer, when they played a free show at the city’s crowned jewel venue of Millennium Park. I was unable to attend that show, but the band’s epic, psychedelic songs surely fit a massive and gorgeous outdoor theatre like that exceptionally well. The confines of Lincoln Hall are by comparison a whole lot smaller, but their top-of-the-line sound system helped to assure that the band could deliver yet another classic performance. Deliver they did, completely captivating the audience with an off-the-rails display of instrumental mastery whilst adding sharp visual stimuli courtesy of some seriously impressive lighting and smoke machines galore. These are exactly the sorts of things you want to happen at a show like this with a band like this, just as the photographic evidence (which I will post shortly) will help prove. The interplay of light and shadows and smoke just all came together to create an ethereal haze that washed over everything in tandem with the walls of sound. The set list was a collection of their best tracks, from the epic “Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent” to “Devastation” to “And You Lied to Me” to the local-baiting “Chicago Train”. Every single part of it was 100% excellent, and for a band so road-weary it makes the feat that much more impressive. Among the most amusing moments of the entire night was the story Jace Lasek told about the number of truckers on the road that tell him he looks just like cult leader David Koresh (it’s so true). Then someone yelled out that maybe he should start a cult of his own, which ultimately ended on a joke about making sure everyone drank a cup of “free juice” before the end of the show. If The Besnard Lakes were to legitimately start a cult though, there’s a good bet that a number of people in the crowd on Thursday night would have joined immediately. That was one epically great performance they put on, helping to solidify their growing reputation as a band that will blow your mind. It marked the perfect cap to what was overall an excellent and variety-filled evening. The best show I’ve seen in 2011? Without a doubt. It’s also the only show I’ve seen in 2011 in this two-week-old year. One can only hope every show turns out as well as this one in the remaining 350+ days we have left on the 2011 calendar.

The Besnard Lakes – And You Lied To Me
The Besnard Lakes – Albatross

CHECK OUT A COUPLE MORE PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP

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Show Review: LCD Soundsystem + Hot Chip [Aragon Ballroom; Chicago; 10/25/10]

By Faronheit

On 10/26/2010

In chicago, music, show review

Three albums apiece, each of which is critically acclaimed. Two bands, both strongly representative of everything that’s right in modern dance music. One night, with one mirrored disco ball hanging overhead. This is the setup for one of the biggest double bills of the year, and if you’ve caught Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem on this tour prior to now, consider yourselves very lucky. They made their way to the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Monday night for a show that sold out so fast they added a second date tonight at the smaller Riviera (for which a limited number of tickets are still available). Both artists had already stopped in the Windy City earlier this year, with LCD Soundsystem headlining a night of the Pitchfork Music Festival and Hot Chip putting on an early evening set at Lollapalooza, but naturally, the thought of seeing these bands outside of an outdoor festival setting was more than enough to draw plenty of people in. So on a surprisingly balmy October evening that many might regard as the “calm before the storm” given the severe weather that has now struck the city, a massive crowd strapped on their dancing shoes ready for a hot and sweaty party.

As the opening band, Hot Chip was only given an hour for their set, which apparently had to be carefully timed due to somewhat strict curfew laws regarding weeknight 18+ shows. It’s a good thing they made the most of that time, blasting through songs at a remarkably fast pace while working to maximize the BPMs and keep bodies moving. Starting with “And I Was A Boy From School” was a smart move given it’s one of the strongest songs in their catalogue and is just barely quick enough to rev up the crowd for what’s to come. As one might expect, the set leaned heavily on their latest album “One Life Stand”, and about half the songs they played were from it. Earlier this year I lamented the lack of dance floor hits on that record, but the band brought new life to those songs and proved they can work just as well as the older material. So when the song “One Life Stand” was surrounded by “One Pure Thought” and “Over and Over”, there wasn’t a noticeable difference in quality, and the same goes for the 1-2-3 punch of “Shake A Fist”, “I Feel Better” and “Ready for the Floor” to close things out. It’s been three years and two albums since I last saw Hot Chip perform, and in that time they’ve only improved as a live act. The songs are tighter than ever and there’s rarely a moment when somebody doesn’t have an instrument in hand, be it a guitar, keyboard or tambourine. If that wasn’t enough to get feet shuffling, there was also Alex Taylor’s odd dancing on stage, which tends to look a lot like he’s jogging in place. He’s not exactly your stereotypical rock star, but then again neither is James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.

So with the crowd completely warmed up both figuratively and literally, a plaid-clad, scruffy-looking Murphy came out with his band as they launched straight into “This Is Happening” opener “Dance Yrself Clean”. The song itself is a carefully considered exercise in restraint, slowly bubbling up under more intense heat until finally exploding under the pressure. As soon as that dam burst open, the entire Aragon went nuts in the best way possible. Limbs flailed, fists pumped, and the stage lighting added an extra dose of bliss to the entire thing. Moving from that into the single “Drunk Girls” only slammed things harder and everyone that knew the words sang along at the top of their lungs. If those early highlights weren’t enough, the rendition of “Get Innocuous” built to a startlingly intense conclusion that had Murphy attacking a pair of snare drums like they had just threatened his life. The guy has taken less of a role on stage fiddling around with instruments and electronic elements in order to focus on his vocals, but it was moments like when he went nuts on the drums that really stood out in a show filled with stand out moments. The triple combo of “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House”, “I Can Change” and “All My Friends” works well together, which is seemingly why they’re on every set list that way. It was during “All My Friends” though that the notoriously poor sound at the Aragon actually struck for a couple minutes, as the song headed towards its conclusion the mix got progressively muddier to the point where the entire thing was one big white noise mess, vocals included. There was only one other moment like that during the set, and that was for the intensely loud “Movement”, where the guitars rip through the head banging chorus. Outside of those two briefly annoying audio blunders, the rest of the show was surprisingly glitch-free. LCD Soundsystem chose to close their set with “Yeah”, another slow burner that builds until Murphy is screaming at the top of his lungs in dramatic and exciting fashion. And because the lyrics basically consist of repeating the song title over and over again, everyone started to yell in between jumping around like crazy. It was a pretty perfect way to wrap up the night, and had there not been an encore most everyone would have walked away satisfied. Not that the encore took away the intense feeling of satisfaction, but the band did play three songs that aren’t the most dance intensive in their catalogue. Still, songs like “Someone Great” and “Losing My Edge” are classics, so it remains a delight each time they’re played. And as a bit of a change up, the band is choosing to close out most encores on this tour with the song “Home” rather than the previous staple “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down”. The positive to that is that “Home” is a more upbeat song with a relatively healthy beat that may not inspire dancing but feels less like the band is going gently into the night. So as each band member exited the stage with a wave or a bow, the stage lights shut down one by one until just the mirrored disco ball overhead spun and the last few beats of the song faded away.

James Murphy has gone on record saying that he plans to “retire” the LCD Soundsystem moniker once he’s done touring to support the latest album “This Is Happening”. Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be another LCD Soundsystem album or a handful of singles, really for all intensive purposes he means that he doesn’t want to have to tour anymore. Depending on who you talk to, that means this Aragon show could have been one of the band’s final two dates in Chicago. Of course since this isn’t being billed as a “farewell tour” and there’s talk of the band playing dates until next summer before officially calling it quits, there’s a high likelihood LCD Soundsystem will be back through at least once more in 2011. That is a great thing, because for a supposed “old man” and non-rock star, Murphy and his band put on a show that’s not only top notch, but seems to get better with age. The jumps in live show quality between 2007 and earlier this summer when the band headlined the Pitchfork Music Festival were huge, and even in the 3 months since then they’ve strengthened even further. If you love this music, along with an occasional dance party, you owe it to yourself to see LCD Soundsystem at least one more time before it’s all over. Given that they’re currently touring with Hot Chip that’s an added incentive to go see the show. Together they make up what’s probably the best double bill of 2010 with what just might be the best live show of 2010 as well. To my fellow Chicagoans, if you’re reading this in time, drop your plans for tonight and go see these two bands at the Riviera. Everyone else, I wish you the best of luck with tickets to a show near you if there is one. The main purpose of going to see these bands might very well be to have a great time dancing and rubbing up against other hot and sweaty bodies, but it’s also important to note that there’s a deep well of emotion hiding just beneath the music’s glossy surface and intense light show. Even if you’re the kind of laid back person that refuses to do anything more than simply tap a toe to the beat, this show has more than its fair share of wonderful moments for you as well. Let’s hope this whole retirement thing is just a momentary lapse in judgment.

Buy Hot Chip’s “One Life Stand” from Amazon
Buy LCD Soundsystem’s “This Is Happening” from Amazon

LCD Soundsystem Set List:
Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls
Get Innocuous
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
I Can Change
All My Friends
You Wanted A Hit
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
\**ENCORE**/
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
Home

Show Review: Sufjan Stevens [Chicago Theatre; Chicago; 10/15/10]

By Faronheit

On 10/18/2010

In chicago, live music, music, show review

Here’s what’s fascinating: when tickets for Sufjan Stevens at the Chicago Theatre went on sale a couple months ago, it had been a few years since he’d released any new music. Sufjan had gone on the record saying he wasn’t feeling particularly productive and began to question whether or not the album was a viable form of releasing music anymore. In other words, Sufjan announced tour dates and sold thousands of tickets, all on the assumption that he’d be playing virtually 100% old material. How quickly time flies. Less than an hour after tickets went on sale for the Chicago date of his fall tour (one week after most other cities), there was suddenly a spark of life that came in the form of the hour-long “All Delighted People” EP, immediately released in digital format via Bandcamp. So, suddenly the chances of Sufjan playing some new material on this tour increased exponentially. Then came the second surprise, the announcement of a new full length album, “The Age of Adz”, the release date of last Tuesday perfectly coinciding with the start of the tour. And so it was, over 2 hours of new Sufjan music released before his date at the Chicago Theatre, with the show pretty much sold out before most anyone was aware it existed.

So it was with another collection of very good album reviews and a certain measure of excitement that crowds packed into the Chicago Theatre last Friday night to see what Sufjan Stevens would do. With a sheer screen lowered at the front of the stage to somewhat hide the band, they emerged and launched right into an incredible version of “Seven Swans”. Given it’s extremely precious and sparse arrangement on the record of the same name, the full band rendition gave the song an entirely new life that was at least equal to, if not greater than, the original. Shapes and objects were projected onto both a screen behind the stage and the one in front of it, which was raised near the end of the song. Post-“Seven Swans”, Sufjan greeted the crowd and noted how he was excited to be able to perform some new songs for all of us. Whether or not the crowd was equally excited to hear them was another matter. What followed was 10 songs in a row, 8 of them from “The Age of Adz” and 2 of them from the “All Delighted People” EP. There’s servicing a new album, and then there’s SERVICING a new album. Sufjan chose the latter, and with the likely possibility that at least half the crowd hadn’t heard the majority if not the entirety of it. If you bought a physical copy of the album, you only had a couple days to become familiar with it, unless you streamed it online in the couple weeks prior to its release. Basically, this show was your full introduction to the new stuff, and Sufjan was more than happy to shove you in the pool without any life vest on.

While a majority of confused faces looked on, song after song passed by and Sufjan did his best to keep things lively and interesting. There were about 10 people in his backing band, two drummers, two horn players, two or three guitarists, a keyboard/piano player, and two women singing backup vocals and dancing. Sufjan himself switched around between banjo, electric guitar, keyboards, piano and a couple other instruments, and at one point simply grabbed the microphone and wandered around the front of the stage just singing. There were projections on the screen at the back of the stage the entire time, and occasionally the sheer front stage screen would come down and add more projections. Shapes and space and planets and UFOs all flew around haphazardly, and as Sufjan explained mid-set, it was all inspired by the little-known artist Royal Robertson, whose art graces the cover of “The Age of Adz”. Apparently during the last couple years when he was “creatively challenged”, Robertson’s art spoke to him and snapped him out of that slump. The guy was a paranoid schizophrenic and had some wild ideas about the end of the world, aliens and numerology. It also made for some interesting musical choices on Sufjan’s part, and either listening to the album or simply seeing it performed live will prove that to you. And though there was a clear disconnect between what the music happening on stage and the audience filling the seats, a few moments really did strike home. “I Walked”, the first “single” and a free download from “The Age of Adz”, hit hard probably for those exact reasons. Also, the sheer shock of thet 25.5 minute “Impossible Soul”, complete with Auto-Tune breakdown, caused an intense burst of enthusiasm from the crowd with applause and cheering that was at the level of about 5 songs combined, because that’s essentially what it was. If you’re going to play the city of Chicago though, and you’ve got a song with that exact title that turned into your biggest hit to date, people would have been near-riot angry had Sufjan not played it. Naturally, he saved it for the end of the set, and everyone got out of their seats and sang along. It was a rendition virtually verbatim with the one that appeared on “Illinois”, but when you’ve got the crowd eating out of the palm of your hand going off script into an extended version of a classic song isn’t the best route to take. So with the two older songs sandwiched at the beginning and end of the set and everything else new in between, Sufjan Stevens and his band said goodnight…but not without an encore first.

As Sufjan came out by himself for the encire, he played the lovely but brief “Illinois” piano track “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois”. That was another straight version, before he brought his two backup singers out to do “Decatur”. As an introduction to the song, Sufjan pretty much said, “I hate this song, it’s a real tongue-twister, but we’re here so we have to do it.” That turned out just fine too, as did “Casimir Pulaski Day” right after that, The really questionable move he made was to play “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” solo to end the night. As great as that song is, part of the also-great “Illinois” album and a historical legacy of the state, one can’t help but wonder if there was a better, less depressing serial killer-ish choice that could have been made before walking off the stage. Instead it was a somber end to a night that in an ideal world would have been far more upbeat.

If you haven’t noticed by now, this isn’t a rave review praising Sufjan Stevens for his musical brilliance both on and off the stage. The fact of the matter is, the guy is so prolific and talented that he’s raised the bar to a point beyond which even he can reach. The one thing he’s failed to realize in this tour so far is that while people are excited to hear your new stuff, they’re still more passionate about the old stuff. In some recent interviews, Sufjan made some comments about leaving the “cutesy” days behind and presenting a far more mature show than he ever has before. Back in 2005, touring for a few months after the release of “Illinois”, he had cheerleaders and wore a train engineer’s cap and played the banjo. It was such a joyous and happy experience – clearly one he has no intention of repeating anytime soon. As nice of a guy as Sufjan is, and as great as his music might be, he’s very much started to take on the temperament of the tortured genius. Whether it’s the enormous pressure he’s felt from all the critical acclaim and mainstream success he’s achieved thus far, or it’s simply a matter of burnout, the smile seems to have been erased from his face. There was nothing technically wrong with his show at the Chicago Theatre last Friday, everything sounded exactly as it should and the new stuff is pretty excellent as well. A set list where the majority of the songs are from “The Age of Adz” and the “All Delighted People” EP isn’t necessarily frowned upon, but at these early stages when the new material is still seeping into people’s brains, perhaps more of a balance would leave the crowds more satisfied. Then again these are the perils that come from being a relatively popular musician, the pressure to give in and “play the hits” rather than try something new. Sufjan Stevens gets credit for largely ignoring what could have been a very eclectic and satisfying set by challenging the audience with all this new music. That doesn’t give much excuse for the relative disdain for which he played songs from “Illinois” during the encore, but better to play them halfheartedly than not at all. Once “The Age of Adz” and its companion EP have been around long enough to earn some genuine sing-alongs, Sufjan’s live show will reach solid ground once again. At the moment though, he’s running far ahead of the pack and refusing to slow down with the hope that everyone else will catch up with him eventually. Let’s hope that’s sooner rather than later.

Set List:
Seven Swans
Too Much
Age of Adz
Heirloom
I Walked
Now That I’m Older
Vesuvius
Futile Devices
Get Real Get Right
The Owl and the Tanager
Impossible Soul
Chicago
\**ENCORE**/
Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!
Casimir Pulaski Day
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Buy “The Age of Adz” from Amazon

Show Review: School of Seven Bells + Active Child [Lincoln Hall; Chicago; 9/17/10]

By Faronheit

On 09/20/2010

In chicago, live music, mp3, music, show review

There was a slight chill in the air last Friday night as School of Seven Bells and Active Child rolled into town to play a show at Lincoln Hall. Interestingly enough, the last time I saw School of Seven Bells was in the also-chilly late fall of 2008 when they had only released their debut record “Alpinisms” and were opening for M83. Since then, they’ve toured the world over a couple times and released a sophmore effort “Disconnect From Desire” that was a little different but still just about as great as their debut. With the small adjustment in sound and the couple years worth of live shows under their belts, it left a big question mark as to how their live show has changed. As for Active Child, they’re a (one man) band I’d been meaning to check out, but given the massive stockpile of music I deal with on a daily basis I never got around to it. That curiosity is exactly why I showed up early enough to catch their opening set Friday night.

Upon walking into Lincoln Hall, Active Child had just gotten started and the very first thing I encountered when looking to the stage was the man behind the name Pat Grossi singing and playing the harp. It would have had a very Joanna Newsom-ish vibe were there not some dark computer backing beats being provided by a pair of laptops and some guitar work courtesy of unofficial bandmate Stratton Easter. Having just two people on stage always makes for some interesting challenges, mostly in the recreation of the many layered sounds that appear on record. The laptops helped, but Grossi and Easter did all the real leg work, often moving between instruments such as keyboards and guitars to pull it off in what seemed to be effortless fashion. Of course just because it looked effortless doesn’t mean that it was, and mid-way through their set Grossi had to pull off a layer of clothing to keep cool. The crowd was very gracious to the band, though they clearly had a few female friends that were not shy about screaming loudly and even telling people to buy merch before Grossi had a chance to. It was all very amusing and interesting, but also pretty impressive from a musical standpoint. The songs sounded great and had a very moody, almost psychedelic vibe that worked well with the lighting and smoke machines. It also made perfect sense as to why Active Child was touring with School of Seven Bells given their somewhat similar sounds. Having not heard any music by the band prior to walking into their set that night, I can now say that Active Child is excellent both on stage and on record. I picked up the “Curtis Lane” EP after the show.

One of the more interesting things that happened before School of Seven Bells started their set was a lack of a tuning session. Most bands will set up their instruments and then tune up with the sound guy for 10 minutes, picking at a guitar or hitting the snare 50 times to get a level right. All SVIIB did was plug in, sing a few notes into the microphone, and then walk off stage as some pre-recorded atmospheric noise played over the speakers. Why they made everyone wait another 15 minutes before re-emerging and officially starting their set is a mystery, but it did allow sufficient time for the smoke machines to turn the entire stage into something rivalling London’s foggiest days. With psychedelic visuals projecting on the black curtain above the band as well, there’s certainly been some showmanship added to the band’s otherwise strong live show. When I saw them in 2008, School of Seven Bells were already a pretty strong live act. Given that Alejandra and Claudia Deheza both came from On! Air! Library! and Benjamin Curtis had spent plenty of time with Secret Machines, they were all seasoned pros before they even got together on this project. Perhaps the real point in playing those dreary instrumentals and building up smoke was to get the crowd into the appropriate mood. Everyone was pulled into the band’s world, a dark and dreamy place where the lines between reality and fiction, life and death, band and audience, were significantly blurred.

It was only fitting then that School of Seven Bells started their set with the fuzzy “Alpinisms” cut “Half Asleep”. The smoke, lighting and enchanting harmonies of the Deheza sisters turned the whole ordeal into a hypnotically beautiful way to begin. Lincoln Hall has the most technologically advanced and arguably strongest sound system in Chicago, but even that couldn’t stop a few minor microphone sqeaks during a couple songs during the set. Other than that, everything else was technically flawless and worked well with the shoegaze-inspired sound. The stage setup was purposefully functional too, with the Dehezas up front on guitar, keyboards and vocals while Benjamin Curtis and the touring drummer hung out in back. Having a live drummer is something a bit new for the band, who were getting by using drum machines when touring to support their first album. Whether he adds or subtracts from the good music that’s already there is up for debate. I chose to regard the drummer as unnecessary but never to the point where he hurt any of the great melodies the band has going for them. Much of the time he was competing with a drum machine anyways, and a lot of what he was supplementing with wasn’t overly complicated. If it makes SVIIB feel more like a full band, then he clearly serves that purpose at least, but otherwise it makes little difference whether or not he’s on stage.

As one might expect, the band ran through a set that mostly consisted of songs from “Disconnect From Desire”, given that’s the new record they’re supporting. “Windstorm” sounded pretty great in a live setting, though the album version is probably just a little bit better. “Heart Is Strange” fared better on stage, as did “Bye Bye Bye”. One of my personal favorite SVIIB songs “My Cabal” turned into a birthday dedication, which was nice and a better rendition than I heard when seeing the band a couple years back. My only real disappointment was the lack of certain highlights from “Alpinisms”. Without a “Iamundernodisguise” or “Connjur” to be found, that was a slight let down in an otherwise excellent set. There were many times the music and atmosphere blended just right to transcend the experience you’d get by simply giving one of the band’s records a close listen via headphones.

At the start of their encore, Alejandra Deheza prefaced things by saying, “Um, we’re gonna try something”. That “something” turned out to be a cover of “Kiss Them For Me”, originally by Siouxie and the Banshees. It was quite brilliantly done and mixed with the band’s sound nearly perfectly. I’m pretty sure Alejandra forgot the words to the last verse of the song, but it didn’t really matter, because everybody on stage looked like they were having a blast. That was really the only moment in the entire show when they were all grinning ear to ear and truly letting loose on stage. They came off as a bit stiff at the beginning of their set but gradually grew warmer and happier as things progressed. The crowd was receptive as one might expect throughout the set, though I was left wondering how many of them actually recognized the Siouxie cover during the encore. No matter, there were lots of satisfied faces leaving Lincoln Hall last Friday night. The smiles might not have been there, given that SVIIB aren’t exactly the happiest or most upbeat band in the world, but looking at the eyes, you could tell it was a great night. Should you have the opportunity, going to see School of Seven Bells and/or Active Child touring through your town is definitely something worth doing. Not nearly enough bands these days attempt to make their live shows experiences rather than simple jam sessions, but thankfully these two bands know that there’s more to a performance than simply playing back the songs from your records verbatim.

School of Seven Bells – Windstorm

Buy “Disconnect From Desire” from Amazon

Show Review: Autolux [Bottom Lounge; Chicago; 8/20/10]

By Faronheit

On 08/23/2010

In live music, music, show review

There was a slight chill in the air on Friday night after what was a very hot day. Perhaps the temperature decline had something to do with Autolux being in town, their music not exactly ideal for situations of sunshine and warmth. Of course the lack of air conditioning and large collection of human bodies made it hot inside anyways, but the overhead fans were working overtime and the darkness still was a great mood-setter. Opening this triple bill was Chicago’s own psychedelic rockers Alla, who put on an energetic and strong set that they’ve become known for. Their songs might get a little long at times, but thanks to some eye-catching drum work and a solid guitar base, nothing ever got too played out or boring. The crowd seemed to like them as well.

One band the crowd had trouble with was This Will Destroy You, a post-rock instrumental band from Texas. Their heavily building yet graceful songs have shades of fellow Texans Explosions in the Sky as well as Mogwai in them, and that’s not a bad thing. And despite the heavier, shoegazey leanings of Autolux, for some reason people weren’t very taken with them. Of course post-rock isn’t exactly the easiest genre of music to love, let alone when it’s instrumental. When people in the crowd were talking amongst themselves and saying things like, “This is boring” and “Thank God this is their last song, though it’ll probably be 10 minutes until they finish it”, you get the feeling that they didn’t fully understand or allow themselves to grasp what was being presented to them on stage. That’s too bad, because This Will Destroy You put on a very captivating set if you enjoy their type of music, and it was a good sonic pairing with Autolux whether the crowd agreed or not.

Speaking specifically about the packed house for Autlux’s set, while your average show features its share of characters in the audience, they tend to be smart enough to be respectful during a headlining set. Sometimes though, whether it’s either alcohol or personality-related, certain people feel the need to insert themselves into the show by being loud and boorish. That includes yelling things at the band between songs, and singing (often off-key) at the top of your lungs to every single song. If you do things like that during a show, it’s fun for only one person unless it’s highly comedic. We all appreciate how much you love the band, but the show isn’t private and there’s a couple hundred others keeping quiet that only want to hear what’s coming out of the speakers. Loudmouth idiots can ruin a show if you let them, and thankfully the ones sabotaging the Autolux show were only bad enough to draw minor attention away from the actual show while still earning this paragraph detesting their actions. The hope is to prevent other, similar things from happening at future shows. If just one person reads this and changes their behavior for the positive while attending a concert, then this paragraph has served its purpose.

But let’s talk about what actually went down on stage during Autolux’s performance. Marching out to a pitch black room, the band started things off the same way so many bands promoting new albums do – by playing the first track from that record. The difference with Autolux is that the opening title track “Transit Transit” isn’t the most energetic or compelling piece of music in their catalogue. It’s not even close, being one of the most subdued songs they’ve ever made. It was nevertheless an artistic way to kick things off, and rolling from that into “Census” got the place electrified with rip-roaring energy that was so lacking in those first two minutes. “Census” is one of the few songs on the new record that holds up well in relation to their incredible debut album “Future Perfect”, and that proved even more true on stage. Eugene and Greg both punished their guitars and fought against amps in an effort to extract as much distortion and general noise out of what was already mayhem. Carla pounded her drums with a fury that rivaled some of the best drummers working today. They took the track for an extended couple minutes and it became one of the most revelatory moments of the entire show.

Following “Census” was the 1-2 combo of “Audience No. 2” and “Subzero Fun”, both of which were serviced properly and continued to add depth to an already strong start. Where things tripped up momentarily was on “Bouncing Wall”, a song that only partly works on “Transit Transit” and does so even less when performed live. Yes, things needed to slow down for a moment, but there were other, better song options to put there. They also could have skipped right into “Turnstyle Blues”, which more than earned its keep, as did “Supertoys” immediately afterwards. On record, “The Science of Imaginary Solutions” is one of the biggest highlights of the new Autolux album. Without the proper moody pieces that come before it along with the subtle nature of the recorded version, some of its charm is lost. Amping everything back up again was a very punk rock version of “Kissproof” that was down and dirty and over almost as fast as you could blink. Unfortunately that’s about how memorable it was too. “Robots in the Garden” was a nice and brief album-solid rendition that deserves credit for the muscle put into it. And though the quieter arrangements tended to suffer during the set, the piano ballad “Spots” somehow managed to slide by without generating any negative attention. And as another one of the great moments on “Transit Transit”, “Highchair” struck with a hurricane-force power that was extremely compelling and ear-damaging (in a good way). Closing the set with “Blanket” was perhaps the smartest choice of the night, as it’s among the best Autolux have to offer. Similar to what they did with “Census”, the band took the song to the next level and started amping up the noise and distortion to the sort of levels where it felt like the melody could break apart at any moment. Eugene slammed his fist on his bass, demanding more from it than it was prepared to give. Greg scraped his strings against the top of his amp just to add more friction. And Carla just kept going and going on the drums like the Energizer Bunny at full power. One by one they stepped away from their instruments, gave a wave, and exited the stage.

Given that they are on tour to promote their new album, it should come as little surprise Autolux’s set was completely dominated by “Transit Transit” material. They played the entire album, except for “Headless Sky”, which was quickly dispatched in the final song of the encore. Prior to that was “an oldie but a goodie” known as “Plantlife”, off the “Future Perfect” record. Both were done in about the fashion you’d expect, similar to the album versions with little to no changes. That was sort of the standard for Autolux the entire show though, which doesn’t mean it was bad, just about what was expected. The goal for any live act is to exceed expectation, which Autolux was able to accomplish a couple of times during their set. There was also plenty to watch, whether it was the impressive lighting work or Carla’s intense drumming, you were never at a loss no matter where you looked. The small things the band could really improve on for the future would have to be their on-stage energy and the way they attack the recorded versions of their songs. When, on songs like “Blanket” they chose to expand on what was already there and “rock out” just a little bit more than usual, it seemed so cathartic and impressive. If only they could capture those moments and multiply them across most of their set, it’d elevate them from a very good live band to an exceptionally great live band. As it stands, Autolux extend themselves just a little beyond most live acts, making them worthwhile to go see but not essential. Let’s hope that as time passes and they have more material to work with, their shows will only continue to improve with time.

Set List:
Transit Transit
Census
Audience No. 2
Subzero Fun
Bouncing Wall
Turnstile Blues
Supertoys
The Science of Imaginary Solutions
Kissproof
Robots in the Garden
Spots
Highchair
Blanket
\**ENCORE**/
Plantlife
Headless Sky

Buy “Transit Transit” from Amazon

Lollapalooza 2010: Final Thoughts and Photos

By Faronheit

On 08/10/2010

In chicago, live music, lollapalooza, lollapalooza 2010, music festivals

Put it in the books, yet another year of Lollapalooza is finished. If you were there, I hope you had as much fun as I did. I also hope you’re in better shape than I am, having barely slept all weekend and never stopping for more than a couple minutes each day to sit down and relax. Yeah it was painstaking, but also a very good time. As a wrap-up to this year’s coverage, I wanted to take a few moments and talk about the great and good, along with the bad and ugly, of the entire festival. Yes, music will be discussed at length, but in terms of amenities and food choices and other things unrelated to what was happening on stage, we’ll talk about that too. Oh, and I have close to 60 photos for you to stare at, chronicling the many musical performances you may have missed either because you skipped them or you skipped the entire experience. So without further adieu, let’s get started.

Lollapalooza 2010: Day 3 Quick Recap

By Faronheit

On 08/09/2010

In live music, lollapalooza, lollapalooza 2010, music, music festivals, show review

If you made it through the entire weekend while at the same time maximizing the number of bands you saw, I have to congratulate you for surviving Lollapalooza 2010. The true festival warriors are few and far between, and though the heat and crowds and loud music technically affects us all in some way or another, those who spent 11 hours a day on their feet over this past weekend deserve some serious kudos. Well done to you and everybody else, because yet another Lollapalooza is in the books and hopefully you had a blast. I did, and will go over the best and worst of the festival for you in a separate post that will also have plenty of photos. For the momeng though, let’s continue to savor what was the final day of the festival, Day 3, with a speedy recap as we’ve done with the first two days.

I needed just a little extra sleep heading into Sunday, as I’d been seriously killing myself with all the running between stages and off-the-hook aftershows (more on those later). But I made it to Lollapalooza Day 3 at about 1:30pm, shortly after some serious rain showers threatened to put a damper on the entire day. The good news is that the sun held up. So did The Dodos, who turned in a stirring early afternoon performance. Between the three guys on stage, they sure made a lot of racket, especially since 2 of them were on percussion. A personal highlight was their rendition of “Jodi”, which was almost pitch-perfect even if the crowd didn’t quite understand that.

Johnny Marr is still playing the role of guitarist in The Cribs, whose last album “Ignore the Ignorant” was far catchier and enjoyable than anybody could have reasonably expected. But Marr generally tears things up, both on that record and live, and though the crowd might have been a little sparse, everyone that was there seemed to have a great time. Things were kept generally light and airy as potential radio hit after potential radio hit breezed past our ears.

Much credit goes to Minus the Bear for knowing their audience. You might not have known it, but they opened for Soundgarden a couple days earlier at The Vic for their pre-Lollapalooza Chicago warm-up show Thursday night (I didn’t go, but a friend of mine did). But with all the clouds disappearing and the sun beating down hotter than ever, Minus the Bear stuck with mostly their high energy, poppier songs. In other words, many of the psychedelic leanings displayed on “Planet of Ice” were held at bay, though ice would have been really nice at that point.

One of my biggest challenges headed into Sunday was whether to see Yeasayer or X Japan. X Japan has been around for decades but has never played a show in the U.S. before. As I’ve seen Yeasayer a couple times already, I chose the unfamiliar act. Their set wasn’t very crowded, but especially at the front, hardcore X Japan fans really openly displayed their love for the band by dressing in costume, or just flying in from Japan where they’re a national treasure. Now I got a little snarky on Twitter about the band’s performance, but honestly it was very entertaining. That’s about all I was looking for, and they delivered, complete with overblown leather outfits, a gong, and pyrotechnics. They’re everything a stadium rock band could ask for, playing to a crowd of a few hundred. Their takeover of North America may not be as easy as they’re hoping it will be, but should they land some success, at least they’ll have the great show to back it up.

I’ve seen Frightened Rabbit 3 times now, and the first time was before I had heard any of their music. That performance, about 3-4 years ago, sold me on the band at which point I bought all their music. The second time I saw them they had been run ragged on tour for several months with no break, all the while partying a little too hard. Singer Scott Hutchinson’s voice was shot and it wasn’t very good. For Lollapalooza this year, the band was back in shape physically, but their set still had issues – the biggest of which was a lack of energy on stage. Even some of their most energetic tunes were left feeling a little flaccid in the hot summer sun beaming down. They couldn’t have turned up the tempo just a little? At least they seemed to largely pull from their best album to date, “Midnight Organ Fight” rather than their so-so new one “The Winter of Mixed Drinks”.

MGMT drew a huge crowd for their set, and that was to be expected. Apparently most people there just wanted to hear “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel” and “Kids” over and over again, because most seemed turned off by the highly psychedelic nature of MGMT’s performance. There were plenty who just gave up after 15 minutes, choosing to try and find greener pastures, or just some good food nearby. I arrived late with food in hand and stuck around long enough to finish my meal, though I couldn’t hear that well. I thought the guys did some nice work.

I may enjoy the new Temper Trap album more than MGMT’s latest (but not by much), which is why I left the latter to go see the former. With the smaller crowd at the smaller stage, Temper Trap really held things down well and got the crowd engaged with sing-along choruses. Of course “Sweet Disposition” came off best, but it was clear there are more potentially big hits we could be hearing more of in the coming months.

Finally, though virtually every one of my friends went to Arcade Fire, I chose Soundgarden with the idea that this could be one of those “once in a lifetime” situations. Having missed out on their shows in the 90’s, this was a big chance to finally see those classic songs played live. And Soundgarden did deliver, playing pretty much every song you might want to hear from them, unless that song is “Pretty Noose”. No worries though, because even when they weren’t doing big radio hits like “Spoonman” and “Blow Up the Outside World”, they tackled “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” and “Gun”. To be fair, the heaviest stuff tended to sound the best, especially the non-singles, but there was something to be said for those as well. “Outshined” was taken to the next level thanks to Chris Cornell coming off the stage and interacting heavily with the crowd of rabid fans. With his hair grown back out long and curly again, Cornell also looked pretty much exactly the same as he did in the 90’s, with that same voice to match. The set wasn’t without its flaws, like how the performance of “Black Hole Sun” seemed like the equivalent of pulling teeth to Cornell as he was probably only doing it because he HAD to. His frustration is understandable, but couldn’t he at least ACT like he still kind of liked the song? Also a small issue was the general attitude the band members had towards one another, which seemed to be the equivalent of a holiday family gathering of strangers. All four guys were there and playing to the best of their abilities, but in terms of interaction or to suggest there was any love between these guys, you could forget it. The question should then be raised: how long can this reunion last? Well, should they break up again tomorrow, I no longer care – seeing a Soundgarden show gets crossed off my Bucket List. I’ll have more details on this show and others in my final impressions of Lollapalooza 2010, which will be ready to go in the next day or two.

Lollapalooza 2010: Day 1 Quick Recap

By Faronheit

On 08/07/2010

In lists, lollapalooza, lollapalooza 2010, music festivals

So at the moment I’m on very little sleep, it’s the middle of the night and I’ve just returned from an aftershow with The Walkmen. All of these factors mean I’m going to be extra quick with this recap of Lollapalooza Day 1. Try to keep up, and I’ll have more detail for you in my final writeup on the festival, tentatively set for Monday.

My day started with Wavves, and not only did Nathan Williams not freak out, but he was about 3x better than when I saw him last year at Pitchfork. Credit his new band of hilarious characters for keeping the set amazingly light and fun and mosh pit-tastic.

Oh The Walkmen. It’s early afternoon and they chose a handful of sleepier songs to play, in addition to the requisite hits of course. So “The Rat” and “In the New Year” come off exceptionally well, but everything else seems to have a little trouble inspiring the crowd. Blame the festival atmosphere more than anything, because having seen the band at an aftershow, they killed it under the guise of a small, dark club.

Mavis Staples is not only a Chicago legend, but a blues, soul and gospel music legend as well. Her new album, which was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, is out next month, but they played new songs from it and Tweedy of course was on hand to help out for a couple. But Mavis is the one handling the spotlight, and she delivers an incredible performance that’s easily the best of the day and very much in the running for best of the festival. Among other things, she performed a cover of The Band’s “The Weight” that very much made it her own, to the point where a guy next to me asked if The Band version was a Mavis Staples cover.

As great as their album “A Brief History of Love” might be, The Big Pink chose to infuse their set with nuance and atmosphere rather than being loud and brash the entire time. Unfortunately, with the heat and the slower material, things started to stagnate and at times you wanted to check your watch to see how much time they had left. Still, “Dominos” came off well, and it wouldn’t have hurt at all for the band to say more than 2 words to the crowd.

Devo started their set with a bunch of songs from their new album. They clearly were out to keep the fans of their older stuff waiting. After “Girl U Want” and “Whip It”, I moved on to try and catch some New Pornographers. Devo’s high energy and solid performances of their songs made for one of the better things I saw all day, even if it was only half a set. I heard from some friends that things went severely downhill after “Whip It”, so maybe my leaving early was a good thing.

On approaching the large Budweiser stage as The New Pornographers were playing, I couldn’t hear what was going on until I got within about 300 yards. By comparison, walking away from Devo I could hear them all the way at Buckingham Fountain, which is at least 1000 yards. Still, I heard a few New Pornos songs, classics mostly, and they were great and delightful and I just kind of love Neko Case. A solid set from a solid band.

If you like Dirty Projectors’ obtuse melodies, then their set did not disappoint. I was surprised at how accurate they were able to recreate some of the tracks off their latest album “Bitte Orca”, and those 3-part female harmonies were nothing short of dreamy.

The Black Keys (and Dan Auerbach) have played Lollapalooza every year since 2005 except 1. Their bag of tricks is nothing new, except this time a new album and additional band members are in tow. Their set is high energy and fun, they played most of their hits, which was also nice but expected, and the couple new guys added a little something extra to the arrangements.

Apparently everyone wanted to go see Lady Gaga, because the side of the park with Jimmy Cliff and The Strokes on it has virtually cleared out. Which is upsetting mostly for the amazingly great Jimmy Cliff set. The guy may be an old reggae musician, but in no way does he act like either of those things on stage. He was always moving, dancing around, kicking up his legs, and even doing the occasional jumping splits. Combine that with a catalogue of classic reggae tunes and his superstar reputation is more than earned. This was probably the least-attended show I saw all day, and it also happened to be one of the best.

The Strokes started their headlining slot a few minutes late, and then finished it about 15 minutes early. The main reason why was a lack of material. They didn’t play every song from their catalogue of 3 albums, but they came close. All the hits were there, from “Last Nite” to “Someday” and “New York City Cops”, the only stone left unturned was “12:51”. As they breezed through their set, Julian Casablancas appeared lackadaisical and comfortable up there despite not moving around the stage at all. Albert Hammond Jr. tore up his guitar solos like it was on fire. Fabrizio Moretti held down the rhythm section with energy and aplomb. To put it simply, The Strokes put on a great show musically, even if it’s not the most exciting to watch.

Show Review: The Futureheads + The Like [Lincoln Hall; Chicago; 6-12-10]

By Faronheit

On 06/14/2010

In live music, mp3, music, show review

The best surprises are always the ones that you never see coming. Well I suppose that’s the definition of the word “surprise”, but I’d also say that some supposed surprises are easier to predict than others, like a TV show’s season-ending cliffhanger where the hero is in serious danger of being killed. You may be surprised to learn that at the start of a new season, the hero survives and escapes the deadly situation. Of course there’s also the bad surprise, where your hopes are high and are met with ultimate disappointment. But the surprise I’m talking about is the sort where you’ve got little to no expectation at the start, only to be completely floored and blown away by something incredible. Rarely do such surprises happen, and that’s really what makes them so special and immensely difficult to capture. Such a surprise happened to me on Saturday night, and as part of this show review, I’m obliged to tell you about it. But first, some finer details.

The venue is Lincoln Hall, the newest (and one of the hottest…booking-wise) concert venue in Chicago. It’s a late show, and The Futureheads are headlining a bill with The Like and The Static Jacks. After arriving a little late, I learned that The Static Jacks had already finished and The Like was preparing to start their set. My history with The Like has been a short one that I can sum up in a quick sentence. They released a debut album in 2005, which like their band name I moderately liked. They’re now releasing their second record this week. They are an all girl group who make relatively inoffensive but moderately catchy rock songs that primarily deal with the subject of boys and romance. It’s all far more intricate and developed than the almost “Plain Jane” exterior it might come off as, especially if you’re fully aware that a couple core members of the band are daughters of music industry veterans. Ignore that point and just listen to the music, because it’s definitely good enough to have come from a group of clearly talented individuals. That said, as a live act, The Like aren’t half bad either. Boasting a slightly revamped lineup that was established last year, the girls came out and quickly kicked things into high gear. They powered through their set at a dizzying pace, rarely stopping even for an applause break. Stage banter was virtually nonexistent, except to thank the other bands on the bill and the crowd for coming. As for the songs themselves, they were decent. The Like performed them with pluck and aplomb and were mostly engaging in their delivery. There was nothing revolutionary or immensely exciting about how it all went down, but then again neither are their songs. It’s the sort of music you’d expect from these girls, and it’s also good enough to make you wonder why this band isn’t more popular. There’s a catchiness and general enjoyment to the songs, and I honestly believe that’s worth a lot. Most of the songs they played were new ones from their upcoming “Release Me”, and they had a solid 60’s girl group vibe to them. I’ve yet to hear the new record, but based on the live versions of the songs, it has potential. So does The Like’s live show. They may not have blown me away with their set, but I’m confident that as they continue to make new music and do plenty of touring, things will continue to improve. Best of luck, ladies.

Buy The Like’s “Release Me” from Amazon

To the strains of Cheap Trick’s “Hello There”, which prominently features the line “Are you ready to rock?”, The Futureheads emerged on stage prepared to do just that. Whether they’ve been using the song all tour or it was specifically chosen for Cheap Trick’s hometown, it made for an amusing start to what would be a show filled with fun little moments just like that one. “Hello, we are The Futureheads. Prepare to meet your doom,” said frontman Barry Hyde as the band launched furiously into the title track of their new album “The Chaos”. The song itself is much like a time bomb, filled with raw energy and featuring the countdown of “5,4,3,2,1”. As suddenly as it had started, less than 2 minutes later, the music abruptly stopped, and the band did too – frozen like statues in place while the crowd cheered up a storm. After a good few seconds of this, the band ripped through the chorus one last time. If that’s not the absolute right way to start a show, I don’t know what is. “Thank you very much, Chicago. This is the very last stop on our U.S. tour, and I want it to get messy in here tonight. I want you all to go to the bar, grab a bottle of vodka, pour it on yourself, and then set yourself on fire,” Hyde quipped. “That’s the spirit!” guitarist Ross Millard chimed in with the pun. And so it went, clear that not only would The Futureheads rip through their four album catalogue, but they’d do so in the most entertaining way possible. See, unlike so many touring bands today, The Futureheads have the oft-coveted characteristic known as stage charisma, and they’ve got it coming out their arses.

Of course the show wasn’t all about witty banter, even though it did include some great commentaries on the USA vs. England World Cup match earlier in the day (“our goaltender must have had olive oil on his gloves or something”) and Chicago (“I love the architecture here. You’ve got a lot of things that spiral, and that’s fantastic. I especially love your carparks [parking garages]. Chicago has the best carparks in the world.”). No, speaking specifically for the music, The Futureheads delivered a performance that was directly relational in energy to that of their songs. Fast, fun, upbeat, and markedly faithful to the original recordings. That is to say, the tempo and vocal harmonies weren’t off in the least, and that just made for a better show. The music itself kind of pushes you in that direction initially anyways, but the band and their great, loose energy drove it home. They also covered every necessary song in their entire catalogue thus far, and smartly pulling much of the material from their first album and their most recent one. Particularly great were renditions of “Meantime”, “Decent Days and Nights” and “First Day”, all of which held up to the lofty standards they presented on record initially. The new songs fared quite well too, in particular “Heartbeat Song”, “Struck Dumb” and “Jupiter” – though my favorite of the new stuff probably came with “The Connector”. In addition to that, crowd participation was heartily encouraged, whether it was clapping along with the beat, doing the “bouncy dance” (jumping up and down mindlessly), or splitting the room in half for a sing-along game to “Hounds of Love” that saw The Like and The Static Jacks returning to the stage to help out. More often than not, those “this side sings one part, and the other side sings another part” games are foolish ploys that never work out as well as you might hope. While the crowd-infused version of “Hounds of Love” wasn’t exactly perfect, it worked about as well as it could be expected to.

After powering through a 16-song set, The Futureheads said goodnight, but then naturally said they’d be back in a minute for an encore. True to their word, they weren’t gone for more than 60 seconds, and when they came back, they played the very first song they ever wrote, “Le Garage”. From the sound of things, the band only intended on playing a 2-3 song encore. What wound up actually happening was a different story. The venue might only have been 3/4ths full, but what crowd was there only wanted more. Given that it was the last night of their U.S. tour, the band looked like they didn’t want to leave the stage either, so they played a couple more beyond what they had originally planned for. It got to the point where they claimed they’d never done a 5-song encore before, but something that night coaxed them into it. They may have played 21 songs total, but given the speed at which they ripped through them, only about 90 minutes had passed and most of us were having the time of our lives. Still, all good things must come to an end, and after powering through “Man Ray”, The Futureheads called it a night once and for all.

At the beginning of this now lengthy piece, I talked a little bit about great surprises. The ones that sneak up on you when you least expect them and knock your socks off in a great way. The Futureheads’ live show was one of those moments for me, not just a stand-out highlight of my concergoing year thus far, but perhaps the most dynamic and fun time I’ve had at a show in a few years. This coming from a band that I had a moderate liking for going in and felt that if they just did their harmonies right that’d be good enough. Instead they went very far above and beyond any expectations I could have had and earned a spot among my favorite live acts. Their U.S. tour may be over, but if you’re from Europe and you’ve not yet seen The Futureheads, make sure to check and see if they’re coming to your city sometime soon. At the end of their set, Ross told the crowd that it was their first show in Chicago in four years. He also said they’d be back sooner than that next time. I certainly hope that’s true, because I’m now eagerly looking forward to the next time The Futureheads come to town.

The Futureheads – Struck Dumb
The Futureheads – Skip to the End

Buy The Futureheads’ “The Chaos” from Amazon

Set List:
The Chaos
Walking Backwards
Robot
Heartbeat Song
Meantime
Struck Dumb
Decent Days and Nights
I Can Do That
First Day
Skip to the End
Back to the Sea
Sun Goes Down
The Beginning of the Twist
Carnival Kids
Hounds of Love
Jupiter
\*ENCORE*/
Le Garage
The Connector
Work Is Never Done
Stupid and Shallow
Man Ray

Show Review: The Golden Filter [Empty Bottle; Chicago; 6-9-10]

By Faronheit

On 06/10/2010

In chicago, live music, mp3, music, show review

If you’re currently living in Chicago and know anything about the sport of hockey, chances are you’re celebrating right now. The Chicago Blackhawks claimed the biggest prize in hockey last night, known as the Stanley Cup for those with zero knowledge of the sport. I may not be the biggest hockey fan in the world, but I have been supporting the team pretty solidly the last few years. What happened on Wednesday was nothing short of amazing, and I do want to wish all my fellow fans the best and offer all the players a sharp congratulations. They say you’ll always remember exactly where you were for the important events in your life, and in an odd twist of fate, I happened to be at a sports bar right across the street from the Empty Bottle. The Golden Filter were in town and I was all set to go see them, but considering I had a little time before their set, watching the end of the hockey game at a bar with televisions was simply something I needed to do. So it was with great relief and much high-fiving that I cheered the Hawks on to victory, and then crossed the street and entered a dance party where everyone was having fun and didn’t seem to know or care that this city had just won a major sport championship. Such is the life of your rabid music fan these days.

Anyways, hockey aside, I wandered into the Empty Bottle in a jovial mood and caught the last couple songs by the first opening band, Chicago’s own Brilliant Pebbles. Despite having heard of them and seeing their name on a number of different show listings around town, I had neither witnessed nor heard a single song by the band. Now that I have, I can tell you that on a bill with a band like The Golden Filter, Brilliant Pebbles more than fit in. Their 80’s inspired synth pop is built on fun and exciting melodies, and frontwoman Monika Bukowska has an energy and stage presence that grab and hold your attention. She dances, spins, skips and a number of other things while anchoring down the songs with her strong vocal presence. If the Yeah Yeah Yeahs got rid of their guitars and adopted synths and 80s dance music, they’d be Brilliant Pebbles. Pretty good stuff for the couple songs I saw, even if the crowd was remarkably thin at that point in time.

Sandwiched between the opener Brilliant Pebbles and the headliner The Golden Filter was the New York duo The Hundred In The Hands. The male-female combo released their debut EP on Warp Records last month, and their fuzzy dance anthems earned them a fair amount of praise. Again without having seen or heard a single note of this band’s music, I was not only pleasantly surprised but incredibly impressed as well. Frontwoman Eleanore Everdell handles much of the synths and all the vocals for The Hundred In The Hands, while Jason Friedman provided the basis for many of their melodies via electric guitar and bass. That’s not always apparent on their 6-track EP which features far less guitar, but there’s a fuzziness and shoegazey quality many of the songs take on when performed live that’s positively gripping. There were also hooks abound, making me think that not only is their live show great, but when their full length album is released later this year it could catapult this band into a big spotlight. If you’re not watching out for this band yet, now might be a good time to start.

Buy The Hundred In The Hands’ debut EP “This Desert” from Insound

When it came time for The Golden Filter to take the stage, the now ballooning crowd was more than ready. Dancing shoes were strapped on and there was just enough breathing room for the people close to the stage to bust a move without causing trouble for anyone who wanted to stand still. The thing is, nobody wanted to stand still, and unless you were purposely standing in the back, chances are you were at least tapping your feet. For those who’ve yet to hear The Golden Filter’s debut album “Voluspa”, it’s a cool dance record that bears similarities with artists such as Goldfrapp and Lykke Li in that many of the songs are electro-pop with breathy female vocals. That singer Penelope Trapps just so happens to be a gorgeous blonde has no bearing on those comparisons, there’s really just the sheer sonic similarity. While The Golden Filter tends to bring a dark moodiness to their songs on record, there’s a fresher energy and excitement that brings some added life to the songs when performed live. Tempos are picked up just a little bit, and thanks to some strong percussion work both using live drums and tambourines and cowbells among other things, the crowd really seemed into it. Of course there’s also the requisite clapping along with the beat, which if done right, will turn a good song into a great song live. Starting with the non-album track “Favourite Things” from the “Kitsune Maison Compilation 7”, The Golden Filter won everybody over by naturally listing “Chicago” among said favorite things. Bouncing from that into single “Hide Me” was a way to turn up the heat a little more and get people moving. “Solid Gold” sounded especially great midway through the set, and leading into the 6+ minutes of “Stardust” and the percussion heavy “The Underdogs” made for some amazing pieces of live music. After closing with “Thunderbird”, the band did come back out for one last song, which was a cover of The White Stripes’ classic “The Hardest Button to Button” (available, by the way, as a bonus track on the vinyl version of “Voluspa”). I never realized how easily that song can be manipulated into a dance track before, and The Golden Filter did it justice even without Jack White’s scalding guitar work.

Perhaps I was in such a good mood after that big Stanley Cup win, but I had a really great time watching these three bands perform. They’re all sonically similar as female-fronted electro-pop groups, but each one brought some different and compelling elements to their sets. Brilliant Pebbles has the strength of a wild singer in the form of Monika Bukowska. She really has a strong stage presence, even if there are only 2 dozen people standing around watching her band. Both Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman seem equally invested and strong as The Hundred In The Hands. They were the only band that used guitars, and when they did in conjunction with the synth-based melodies, magic happened. I’m going to keep my eyes out for them in the future because they’re absolutely going places. And The Golden Filter’s secret weapon was percussion, because whether it was the booming drum work on “The Underdogs” or the simiplest of clapping, the upping of the tempo during their set made the difference between a good and great performance. Nice work. There aren’t many dates left on the Golden Filter/Hundred In The Hands tour, but should you have the opportunity to see either of those bands separately or together, I’d call it an excellent idea. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some hockey-related bragging to do.

The Golden Filter – Hide Me

(US) Preorder “Voluspa” on vinyl from Insound

SET LIST:
Favourite Things
Hide Me
Look Me In The Eye
Dance Around The Fire
Solid Gold
Stardust
The Underdogs
Thunderbird
ENCORE
The Hardest Button to Button (White Stripes cover)

Show Review: Atoms for Peace [Aragon Ballroom; Chicago; 4/10/10]

By Faronheit

On 04/11/2010

In live music, show review

While the members of Radiohead are out and about doing various other things to keep busy in between studio time, band frontman Thom Yorke has decided to play some shows around the U.S. in support of his 2006 solo record “The Eraser”. Yes, it’s been 4 years since that album was released, but given that Yorke never toured around it back then doesn’t mean he can’t tour around it now. He’s also recruited a motley band of musicians to help translate the largely electronic record into something a full band can perform on stage. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is the second most prominent member of this newly formed band, which is filled out by longtime Radiohead producer and friend Nigel Godrich, drummer Joey Waronker and multi-instrumentalist Mauro Refosco. They settled on the name Atoms for Peace and have been making their way across the country playing a handful of dates before wrapping up at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. The tour reached Chicago for a pair of sold-out shows this past weekend at the Aragon Ballroom.

Opening both shows was electronica artist Flying Lotus, who has a new album “Cosmogramma” coming out in a couple weeks with a track that features Yorke on vocals. Unfortunately Yorke didn’t make an early appearance Saturday night to perform the track, but the set was still excellent anyways. The challenge was mostly trying to get a massive crowd moving while you’re hanging out behind a laptop on a table with a lone spotlight overhead. Girl Talk remains one of the most exciting electronica artists out there today for the wild lengths he goes to get an audience energized and having a good time. Flying Lotus is no Girl Talk. He did keep the tempo largely upbeat for his set though, and for a room full of people all there with the express purpose of seeing Atoms for Peace, that anyone danced at all was an accomplishment. While much of the set sounded like standard club DJ fodder, there were a few elements thrown in here and there such as horns and harps that deviated from expectations and provided some added excitement. Still, it wasn’t nearly as thrilling as your average band playing instruments on stage.

The between-set talk amongst the crowd was all about how Yorke and his bandmates were going to translate the minimalist electro-based sounds of “The Eraser” into something a five guys could play with traditional instruments. As soon as Atoms for Peace took the stage, it was clear that would be a non-issue. Amid intense roars from the crowd, the band gave a quick wave as Yorke quickly sprang across the stage to the piano and began hammering out the first few notes of the album’s opening title track. Flea quickly joined in on bass, bouncing, bobbing and weaving around like there were insects all over his body and he was trying to shake them off. Waronker and Refosco doubled up on percussion duty while Godrich manned keyboards and all sorts of other electronic gizmos. All said and done, the guys took the quiet and mournful tone of the song and cranked it up a couple extra gears. It was a conceptual arrangement that worked out like gangbusters, giving the track a life that you’d never expect it to have.

The rest of the set went similarly, with Yorke bouncing between piano and guitar or just entirely freaking out and dancing across the stage with a microphone in hand. Flea continued to match his energy at every turn, putting on his wild man show less for the attention and more out of his own necessity to play his bass with as much punctuation and personality as possible. For “Skip Divided”, Flea set down his bass and picked up a melodica. That gave the song some Middle Eastern flavor, though the instrument did wreak havoc with the Aragon’s speakers, which squelched painfully every now and then. Refoso’s everyman role had him playing some particularly odd instruments, one of which was the surreal and odd Brazilian bow. Meanwhile Godrich and Waronker both equally held their own in compositional and rhythmic strength, continuing to add propulsion and intensity to songs that had only hinted at it on record. They took these small and personal melodies and turned them into something stadium-sized and crowd-pleasing. The energy in the music also translated to energy on stage, and that in turn resulted in particularly inspired performances towards the end of the set with “Harrowdown Hill” and “Cymbal Rush”. Both songs operated as slow burners on stage, starting out quiet and then building tension until they finally burst into cathartic explosions of energy and sound that thrilled and satisfied. They took the main part of the set out on a particularly high note, and gave the crowd something to really cheer about.

At the start of the encore, Yorke returned alone to play some quieter songs on both the piano and guitar. He started with a brand new song he’s been working on with “his other band” Radiohead, which is currently being called a number of different things, including “Chris Hodge” and “Let Me Take Control”. Either way, with just Yorke and an electric guitar, it was a surprisingly small and intimate moment following a set that was nothing short of huge and bombastic. Yorke also performed an unreleased song from the “Kid A” era known as “The Daily Mail” on the piano before launching into a crowd-pleasing “Everything In Its Right Place”. The full band finally returned for a performance of Radiohead b-side “Paperbag Writer”. The energy and arrangements kicked back into high gear for “Judge. Jury. Executioner”, and the percussion was out of control for “The Hollow Earth” while Yorke flailed around like a man possessed. “Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses” brought an official and highly satisfactory end to the fun and occasionally strange evening. Each member of Atoms for Peace set down their instruments one by one and wandered off the stage with a quick wave and the screams of a clearly impressed audience.

Looking at the entire show from a sound perspective, given that the Aragon is notorious for their shoddy acoustics, Atoms for Peace fared relatively well on Saturday night. Whoever was handling the soundboard clearly knew how to get the most out of the band, though there were some small issues early on as Yorke’s vocals were a little low in the mix and being drowned out by the guitars and percussion. There was also the aforementioned squelching that was coming through the speakers during “Skip Divided” while Flea was playing the melodica. Outside of those small sound issues, I had a minor problem with the manner in which the band performed the songs. “The Eraser” album is one of quiet and dark mystery and intimacy, and Atoms for Peace chose to reconstruct the melodies to suit the large venue and keep the crowd satisfied. It’s an understandable decision to make, and it was definitely interesting to hear how each song was changed, but that loss of reflective, personal moments bothered me just enough so that I felt it worth mentioning. Of course with sweaty bodies piled upon sweaty bodies across the floor of the Aragon, one could say that everyone got more than their fair share of intimacy during the show anyways.

Set List:
The Eraser
Analyse
The Clock
Black Swan
Skip Divided
Atoms for Peace
And It Rained All Night
Harrowdown Hill
Cymbal Rush
-ENCORE-
New Song (aka Chris Hodge or Let Me Take Control)
The Daily Mail
Everything In Its Right Place
Paperbag Writer
Judge Jury & Executioner
The Hollow Earth
Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

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Hello, and welcome to Faronheit! I hope you enjoy your stay. Before you read onwards, let me quickly explain a couple things.

Contact information: faronheit@gmail.com