Seattle Subsonic

Lovers At The Swanky Sorrento

October 26th, 2010

Last week, in advance of their show, I publicly geeked out on the new record from Portland’s Lovers. As planned, the show went down this past Sunday at the Sorrento Hotel on the corner of Madison St and Terry Ave. Apparently, the hotel has been recently booking shows devised for their “Hotel 503″ series “where musically talented bands from Portland join us for an intimate acoustic set in the Fireside Room.” (503 is the area code for Portland, duh.) The Fireside Room is a swanky, old Seattle-era lounge not really set up for viewing music: listening, fine; viewing, not fine. There’s a huge circular bench in the center of the room and tables, chairs, and sofas scattered about the perimeter. It’s kind of an intimate, awkward venue set up for piano singers and other mellow, mild musicians where hotel patrons kind of stop in and gawk for moments at a time before opting for the soiled tavern stench of the tapless Hunt Club. That said, if you’re there to simply hear the music and have a cocktail, it suits just fine.
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I asked synth savant Kerby Ferris before the show if their electronic foundation would be pared down for the venue’s acoustic leaning, and she simply pointed to the band’s gear and retorted, “Uh, no.” But as I pointed out in my Dark Light review, the real force behind the band’s power is not some sort of in-your-face blastoid beat rave, but rather an acute emotional tug that comes from Cubby Berk‘s endearing voice and irresistible lyrics, a carefully dense electronic soundscape from Ferris, and Emily Kingan‘s attention to detail rather than brawn. Their music suited the space simply splendidly. The art-electro balladeers played most of the songs from Dark Light, plus a subtle version of “Igloos For Ojos” from I Am the West. They sounded practiced and polished—even taking a jazz club intermission—and the merch table absolutely blew up afterward. One young lady who missed the 7pm set still decided to pick up two albums on her way out and one couple came back three separate times for more souvenirs. People are sweet. Hearts were touched.

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If you check the band’s myspace, you’ll notice a US tour in the immediate future, so if you happen to be reading this in another city (I know, a reeeeeeeeeal long shot) check ‘em out. Below is a video of “Figure 8″, their blood-rushing #1 hit single.

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Also, más fotos.

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