Seattle Subsonic - Show Critic
Anomie Belle & Emily Wells Trip Hopping @ Triple Door
Last weeks show at the Triple Door featuring artists Anomie Belle and Emily Wells was a fantastic pairing; both amazing female multi-instrumentalists, violinists, and electronic producers with different styles (trip hop versus hip hop would be a real narrow comparison as they are both eclectic).
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Seattle musician Anomie Belle, fit perfectly in the dark, candle lit room of the Triple Door. Anomie’s trip-hop style, downtempo eletronic music, was at its best when deep and darker, as her voice goes low and is perfectly shadowed by the heavy bass; this was very moving in the cold ambient theater. She performed her solo act onstage with a live band including a cellist, violinist, drummer, and bassist; she switched off between the mic, keyboard, violin and guitar. I’ll be looking forward to the newly completed album.
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On the another part of the spectrum, Emily Wells was more hip hop, or actually a mess of things that just worked very well together. I jokingly referred to her as the child of Tom Waits, Bjork, M.I.A., and Mitch Hedburg with complete disregard to any logic. She loomed over the wide keyboard like a mad scientist, often mixing it up with violin, toy keyboard, and other indiscernible items. On the other side of the stage Sam Halterman kept perfect rhythm on the drums and from afar, in the dark, resembled idol Justin Guarini (except with talent). Or, maybe, this is just when my martini set in (seemed an appropriate drink for the Triple Door).
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Emily sang hooks then seamlessly recorded the hook and looped it in later as she shifted focus to other parts of the music and instruments. At times her voice was seductive or gritty or high pitched or bluesy or was it jazzy or was she rapping a hymn? I enjoyed that diversity. Her lyrics ranged from topics such as whiskey, love, and secrets to a cover of Biggie’s “Juicy” to burning down a house just to forget about things (I get it). I was entertained with how she worked the crowd, speaking with a assertive yet quiet nervousness; and even delicately (and humorously) managed an unruly patron who may never remember shouting “I love you” many times in the quiet venue. Later, the theater backdrop turned to surreal stars which fully enhanced her more atmospheric songs. That was a nice touch and topped of a great night of music.
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In contrast to Anomie’s set, it was different to see so much come out of Emily’s two person ensemble, rather than a full band and she worked it well, at one point quickly joining on the drums. Now I’ve been wondering what an Anomie Belle solo performance is like (I know she does it) and to date I’ve only seen her with the full band. Awesome set from both artists. Check them out.
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And the next time you go to the Triple Door wear a coat and make sure they don’t seat you on the side with a partial view and adjacent to the subwoofer. Other than that, love to the Triple Door!
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http://www.anomiebelle.com/
http://www.myspace.com/emilywells
Doe Bay Fest Should Just Be Called Heaven
I was looking for adventure, and it came in the form of a last minute opportunity to go and volunteer at the 3rd annual Doe Bay Fest out on Orcas Island. For those not in the know about this festival, it is two full days of music and fun set to the back drop of the beautiful Doe Bay Resort & Retreat.
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Having been to many music festivals this summer and in the past, I was completely blown away by Doe Bay. While Capitol Hill Block Party was, well, just a big fucking party with terrible sound, Doe Bay had something like 700 people drinking, singing along and just enjoying themselves without being complete jackasses. It was refreshing. The sound from the main stage was just perfect. The stage sits in a natural amphitheater and the sound travels through the grounds so that you can hear the bands play perfectly from anywhere.
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Highlights from the main stage were, Hey Marseilles, The Maldives (who have played all three years), Drew Grow and The Pastors’ Wives, Grand Hallway, and the Portland Cello Project who did an amazing job on their own, but also accompaniment to most of the bands that played this year. Truly impressive.
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After the main stage shuts down for the evening, things go inside. There is a cafe and yoga studio at the resort where the after party shows start. The cafe is a great place to sit and listen to some of the performers play acoustic sets, while the yoga studio is a sweltering hot mess of bodies and dancing. At one point my camera fogged up from the steam in there.
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My two favorite acts and performances of the weekend were The Head and The Heart set and Drew Grow and the Pastors Wives with Kelli Schaefer in the yoga studio. This was really their fest this year. Both acts just blew everyone away with their fantastic music and just plain kindness. At Doe Bay everyone is just one big family.
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Sunday was the best day to have been there. Most of the crowds left to battle with the Ferries for a ride home, while the rest of us stayed and just relaxed. There was even a slip ‘n’ slide set up by Chris and Kenny of The Head and The Heart. It was the perfect way to cool down on a hot Doe Bay day.
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Sunday night was just a jam session by the remaining musicians. We were all hanging around the Sound on the Sound kids’ camp site playing music and singing along with Drew Grow and The Head and the Heart and Hey Marseilles. I even heard a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that Kelli Schaefer did acapella. It was the best evening I have had in a long, long time.
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Doe Bay, you have truly impressed me with the people I met, new friends I made, and beautiful music I heard. I will be going back for years to come.
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If you want to check it out next year, make sure to get your tickets early. It sold out in 10 days this year. I am sure it will take even less next year.
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A video from the Yoga studio
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Drew Grow and The Pastors’ Wives with Shenandoah Davis, and Kelli Schaefer from Dylan Priest on Vimeo.
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See more Videos here. http://vimeo.com/user4534866/videos
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See more Photos here. http://is.gd/enTfq
Quasi @ the KEXP BBQ
Here’s Portland alt-punk vets Quasi performing in front of some mural at the KEXP BBQ last Saturday. I went with LargeLarge. I didn’t see any of the other bands (OK, this was a blatant lie; I actually saw half of Brooklyn band Suckers’ set. They were pretty good, reminiscent of Isaac Brock fronting Les Savy Fav, with whom they share a label, incidentally).
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I think the band’s latest record, American Gong, has gotten better the more I listen to it (“with age”, as they say), as Sam Coomes’ bristly barroom stories are the perfect complement to the band’s grungy pop-punk. Similar to Pixies (my No. 1 Favorite Band), Quasi is kind of all over the map with their songs, but it’s apparent they all come from the same place. You know how they sound on record? That’s pretty much how they sound on stage. I especially enjoyed watching Janet Weiss up close on her Mod-style blue linoleum drum kit (it reminded me of my kitchen floor).
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I must say, for divorcee’s Coomes and Weiss, what an odd experience it must be to maintain a band together after all these years. They do it mostly with grit and guile and gumption, I think, and a playful, well-tread attitude with each other. Kudos to a post-marriage success story!
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P.S. I leave on a plane for Sweden tomorrow, so I won’t be around much the next two weeks. I’ll be sure to report back on any black metal, wooded folk, or disco pop dealings I come across. Vi ses!
Autolux Rocked Neumos Saturday
I caught Autolux at Neumos on Saturday with openers Mongrel Blood and This Will Destroy You. Mongrel Blood was up first and their set was… alright. They started out a little sloppy and… well, basically this seemed to be their style. I am not one to rag on a band or their live show, but Mongrel Blood just wasn’t my cup of tea. Here is how it goes: Mongrel Blood is Cameron Elliot, Eric Fisher, and Spencer Moody (of Murder City Devils fame). So they are just a couple of buds from Seattle out to make some messy music. And for that one and only promise they did great. They were just kinda up there making a party and having some fun. I wasn’t really feeling the feedback situation but I was feeling the guys thanking the crowd by saying “thanks for coming early to see a couple of assholes.” That was just a classic line. If you are a fan of the style of this band I would recommend you checking them out in action at the Carousel Festival on August 29.
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Next up was This Will Destroy You, and holding true to the name, they kinda did… destroy me, that is. I didn’t look into this band before rolling out to the show and I was pleasantly surprised by this Texas band’s ability to produce some stellar ambient music. It was a good mix of pretty rough rock and some super chill melodies. I liked the variety. There was not one word uttered by any of the band members until finally you hear a voice about 45 minutes into the set say that the next song would be their last. It was kind of like a no-bull situation, they were not on stage to make friends just music. They had a stellar sound and a light show that would give a small child a seizure. I was stoked on This Will Destroy You and will likely pick up some of their music.
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Then, about a half past eleven Autolux finally rolls on stage. My initial observation was that this was the smallest crowd I have yet to experience at Neumos, the whole mezzanine was closed. There was a perfect ratio of songs from both of their albums. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the songs from their first release Future Perfect more so than from their latest. It was easy to gauge this by the amount of smart phones lifted to record the earlier songs in particular. There was a lot of dead air, not so efficient instrument changes and moving around, basically just down time where the band was fussing on stage but not uttering a word to the crowd. I thought this was kind of clumsy but then remembered this is just how this band is. They have that awkward stage presence and they don’t really focus on the small talk. I really dug their set though, they did great as far as sound went. I especially appreciated when Carla Azar took to the vocals, her voice was just so enigmatic. The band finished well past the given time of 12:15 then came back on for the encore and played two more. Despite their relatively silent set, Autolux was amazing to catch live. I was glad to see this band early on in their stacked tour. They are due to be on the road roughly a month and are basically playing nightly, it looks like a rough set up.
Photos From Friday the 13th: Stephanie & YellowFever
Unfortunately, I had to jet before the band I wanted to see most, Flexions, took the “stage”. No matter, though, as both Stephanie and Austin band YellowFever put on distinctive sets in the back of Cairo’s tiny little store. It was an anxious night for those who suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia (yes, that’s a real word, I looked it up), and Stephanie’s vocalist made it no less easy with his freaky hooded skull mask. Along with their slightly spooked art-pop, it made Friday the 13th a little bit more festive. I thought that the quartet lived up to their promise and successfully one-upped their low-fidelity recordings.
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YellowFever also played a great set of sparse, rhythmic pop songs that clattered and bobbed with an unexpected grooviness. They had me dreaming of a comparison combo between the Intelligence and Micachu and the Shapes, what with the Jennifer Moore’s sleepy inflection and tight guitar. The drummer, Adam Jones, impressed with his dual drum and keyboard skills as he played some keys, looped it and then took his skins and cowbell on a jazzy journey. Really cool stuff and I’m glad I caught them on their way through town. Ok, it’s really nice out today, so I’m gonna take your advice and bail on this whole computer thing.
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View the entire gallery here.
Ha Ha Tonka’s Spectacular Show
So I roll up to the Sunset Tavern right at the start of the Grandtours set. They are already pretty much rocking it hard and I was stoked to see that this Seattle band had some amazing style to back up their sound. The Grandtours set was really amazing, the sound was awesome, it worked really well with the venue. They had some great back and forth with one another as well as the sparse crowd, I think there was a joke made about how they reached the double-digits as far as crowd numbers went. My absolute favorite was that their last song happened to be a killer cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” - blew my mind. Everything worked so well together. Mad props to this band, I checked out their scheduled events and they are playing at the High Dive on the 18th. I definitely recommend checking them out live.
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Next was Chris Mills. I liked Chris Mills, really, he seemed like a great guy that you want to be friends with. He had tons of witty banter with the crowd, talking about how much American Airlines sucked, and his song being used in the TV show Criminal Minds, and how that all goes. When he first rolled up on stage his first words were something cool like: “This is how is all started.” Great guy. It was just Chris and the drummer Gerald, and I have just one complaint about their set and that is that the drumming was just too much. There was only Chris’s guitar to match and it was usually drowned by Gerald’s fervent beating of the drums. From what I was able to catch that wasn’t drowned out by the drums was that Chris’s songs are usually about television shows or some other form of media, that is just classic. I really liked his style and felt a little bummed that I couldn’t focus on much else besides the pounding on my brain.
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Then there was Ha Ha Tonka… and oh man, they were spectacular. The energy, the mix, the vibe… no really, this band was off the chain- amazing. Everything about these guys worked so well. They would mix up the main vocals, sometimes it was Brian Roberts, sometimes it was Brett Anderson (who has the voice of an angel), sometimes it was all four with Lennon Bone getting off the drums to harmonize the situation. And no matter what you could always hear Lucas Long’s low baritone voice coming through- man if this guy could just sing me to sleep nightly, that would be stellar. Keeping true to their Southern style – Springfield, MO that is- these guys just screamed southern gentlemen. So gracious and appreciative of the crowd, Roberts kept thanking everyone- KEXP, the Sunset, the girl in the front whose birthday it was… And the energy was just mind-blowing for the band and the crowd. A regular dance hall erupted on the more upbeat numbers. The crowd and band got especially rowdy for the final song, which the band came back on and played after a particularly calm number, it was a cover of Ram Jam’s Black Betty, and it was perfect. Everyone just got crazy.
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According to Wikipedia, these guys have been playing together since roughly 2003 when they recruited Anderson. And it shows in their live show, they are perfect together, working off of one another with the harmonizing, the riffing, everything. This is definitely one of my favorite live shows thus far of 2010. I got all flustered when Roberts informed the crowd that Ha Ha Tonka would be touring with Rocky Votolato in the fall, the chances of them coming back through Seattle are high and if its true I am stoked-city, and already planning to be there. I would highly recommend catching these guys live.
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Again, my apologies- the pictures are crap, I know, the camera is crap.
CHBP: Odds & Ends
Ok, ONE more Block Party post and then I’ll knock it off. I just wanted to collect some closing thoughts on the potpourri I had rolling around in my head. Nothing to heady (heh), just some leftover observations I wanted to get onto paper AND INTO YOUR BRAIN.
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Holy Fuck: I’ll get to the Main Stage in a moment, but despite the hard-hitting thump of these Canucks (couldn’t quite rhyme it with Fuck; sorry), their sonic impact was unfortunately diminished once you were a block away from the stage. Sure they sounded like all hell broke loose—in a very tight, controlled way—and their instrumental funk bombast was successful in summoning hips, arms and other extremities rapidly to and fro, but when the volume isn’t there, then neither is the impact. I also don’t think their new one, Latin, is quite as good as their debut.
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Beach Fossils: Catchy, driving and pleasurable. But also way too Joy Division-y. I recognized at least one riff cribbed from Unknown Pleasures, and my trusty CHBP companion said the same for Power, Corruption & Lies. Good for a lark, but I probably won’t be investigating further.
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Mad Rad: Probably one of the more anticipated afternoon sets of the weekend, the crowd was a healthy one out to see just what new shenanigans P Smoov, Buffalo Madonna, and Radjaw had up their sleeves. Turns out it was Prep School off-kilter crooning. The trio + Darwin played up their white boy image with dapper duds in various shades of pastel (yellow, pink, red, white, etc.), and seemed to take their new songs in a different direction from White Gold, which is to say…there was more singing than expected, especially from B. Madonna. But there were also new tunes that felt like the old Mad Rad, with Smoov’s Espresso beats seemingly taking charge of much of their new tricks. “Caveman” had a bit too much aggro, natch (“Fuck you / that’s how we do ’round here”), and “Blood” was a nice tribute to Oregon and its beautiful coast. Favorites like “Crack the Blunt”, “My Product” and “Superdope!” still roused the crowd more than any other tunes. The dudes were super spastic and über limbo, per usual, and even had a cello player on stage for a little while. In fact, the whole set felt very “collabo” (apparently the new lingo for “collaboration”—not sure why it had to be shortened), as Trent Moorman (Head Like A Kite) emphatically pummeled a drum kit, Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam-ers Jared Price and Ben Verdoes pristinely picked their strings on a few new songs, and their set ended with a very “I Love My Friends” onstage dance party with several homies and local hip hoppers. If 2009 was the year they made enemies, then 2010 is undoubtedly the year they’re trying the opposite.
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Dead Weather: I think I like the idea of this band more than their actual music. I’m a big fan of its musicians, and even their sunless vamp-rock aesthetic doesn’t really chap my bleach-white hide. Of course, like pretty much all main stage acts during the CHBP, I couldn’t see much on stage (this had to have been one of the most well attended sets of the weekend). In fact, we ended up going to the Shell Station on the corner of Broadway and Pike to get a better view and sound. It was a slight improvement. Their music snarls and snakes and pounds and pushes, but I’m not sure it’s all that revelatory. Maybe it needn’t be. Or maybe I need to actually listen to the records. Or maybe I just need to listen to the Kills and the White Stripes and the Raconteurs and keep it at that.
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Main Stage sound: Royally sucked. Get better at this next year, Block Party.
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Crowd/space: To be clear, it never felt too crowded unless you were at the Main Stage. You could walk freely up and down the corridor, lines at the beer garden and Honeybuckets were minimal outside of a few peak times, and the general suffocation factor was surprisingly low. But the Main Stage at night was a complete clusterfuck, and combined with the low volume of the speakers, it made for a rather unsatisfactory experience. I’ve been a pretty unabashed supporter/attendee of this festival for many years, but I’m not ignorant or blind. I think if the Block Party continues to grow like it has the past few years, then I don’t see how it can’t relocate in order to make it worth the time and money.
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Also, here’s a handy synopsis of all my WONDERFUL Block Party coverage. Don’t you dare say I don’t love you.
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CHBP Friday: U.S.F.
CHBP Friday: Shabazz Palaces
CHBP Friday: Champagne Champagne
CHBP Friday: Mahjongg
CHBP Saturday: Obits
CHBP Saturday: Blood Red Dancers
CHBP Saturday: Happy Birthday
CHBP Saturday: !!!
CHBP Sunday: Real Estate
CHBP Sunday: THEESatisfaction
Henry Clay People @ Paramount
When I first walked into the Paramount I was immediately struck by how beautiful this venue was and the architecture on the inside, the chandeliers, everything… man it was nice. So to think of such acts as Henry Clay People and Against Me! playing on that stage was kind of far fetched… I thought. But, naturally, one shouldn’t make assumptions, because it worked, and it worked well. The raging- “I don’t give a shit” rock attitude that goes with these bands’ sounds was only more complimented, and made epic by this venue of class rather than some beer stained dive bar.
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Henry Clay People were impeccably punctual, had a killer set, their amazing sound echoing so well throughout the Paramount. As an opener, the band was really just there to have fun, and that means just rock out with-out a care in the world. And that is what they do well, so basically just a great set to catch. Anyone who showed up early enough to catch it was in for a real treat.
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Next up, Against Me! took the stage and just rocked it. It was fun to wander to the mezzanine and see all the people sitting down through this set. Really, I can’t get over this venue for this band it was classic. I suppose I should open my mind a little more to the possibilities. But an all around rock out set that sounded great.
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Lastly, the Silversun Pickups, great show. How Brian Aubert gets his voice to sound like that is beyond me. His speaking voice is just so much different. Siversun Pickups set was great though, full of dancing. Aubert was sure to give love to Seattle, listing off all the places that he has played from an acoustic set at Sonic Boom to the stage of the Paramount he had only love to share.
CHBP Sunday: THEESatisfaction
Prior to last weekend, I was merely a casual fan of the jazzercised bohemian musings of local eccentri-rappers THEESatisfaction. I’d listened to their LP Snowmotion several times, heard a few other .mp3’s, read countless internet accolades, and even copped out on a few of their shows. It never quite grabbed me. Their fractured take on the hip and the hop was weird and cool, yet without teeth sharp enough to cut into my consciousness. I certainly appreciated their unique, pro-everything au courant feminist stance and all the bizzaro business they were loopin’ into their “challenging” records. But it never quite grabbed me. With their Saturday set at Neumos, I had the perfect chance to hear the hype (indeed, their live shows have been given great reviews), and I would make a more informed decision. Trouble was, pretty much everyone else had the same idea. Neumos was straight packed; couldn’t see shit. With the place feeling like a crusty, alcohol soaked sauna, me and my trusty CHBP companion hit the exit. We found a handful of spill-overs drinking and bobbing their heads on the sidewalk on 10th Avenue. The sound was good, so we decided to stay too.
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Over the next 20 or 30 minutes, my view of the divergent dating duo totally transformed. The beats hit hard, the keys and the horns wafted wearily, and the voices floated out the door like two visionary banshees sending their queer and quirky message across the space-time continuum. There were rim-rattlers and crowd-pleasers. Thought-provokers and dance numbers. I was impressed. So impressed, in fact, that we made a point to hit up their Caffè Vita Bean Room performance for KEXP the next day (excellent show space, btw). They played 4 songs for Street Sounds, and the crowd was ample, if not overstuffed. There was free coffee and this new tune from the ladies they call Cat and Stasia. It’s called “Do You Have The Time?” and has a Roots-y feel-good vibe with some dope (-smokin’) overtones. Color me converted.
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CHBP Sunday: Real Estate
New Jersey’s comfy chill-rock act Real Estate is easily one of my favorite finds of 2010 (they’re self-titled record came out in November 2009 on Woodsist). Not one but TWO of their songs somehow became my concurrent Absolute Jams, “Beachcomber” and “Fake Blues”, back during a particularly bitter winter season. So when I’d heard they’d been recruited to play the third day of the Capitol Hill Block Party, I emphatically rejoiced. I mean, I made comments on Facebook about it and everything.
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Theirs was a late afternoon set around 6pm when the sun is just coming off its 5 o’clock peak performance. A slight breeze blew through the Pike corridor, cooling our skin and drifting our hair. There was no shoving or jostling in a (cheerful) crowd where elbow room was a surplus rather than a shortfall, and Real Estate’s easy, breezy guitar jangle came out from it’s submerged state to dance in the sun. “Beachcomber” was played first, then the crystalline waltz of the nostalgic “Pool Swimmers” and a real revved up rendition of the sweet ditty “Green River”. They played pretty much their entire self-titled LP (plus one groovy new one!) except for the Matthew Monandile-written instrumentals “Atlantic City” and “Let’s Rock the Beach”. Monandile, who moonlights as Ducktails all by his lonesome, unfortunately was absent. His replacement did an admirable job, despite frontman Martin Courtney’s frequent instruction (mostly via example, eye contact and word-mouthing). Bassist Alex Bleeker particularly enjoyed, and remarked on, all the weed smoke wafting up into his face. It was one of those perfect afternoons.
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As for my Absolute Jams, if “Beachcomber” sounded a bit placid, then “Fake Blues” certainly sounded a bit more peppy than usual. It was the highlight of one of my favorite sets all weekend, and lucky for me, I can relive it whenever I want:
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Who’s Gonna Steam Up All Your Dancehalls?*
Why, Wolf Parade, of course. Is the downtown Showbox a true dancehall? No, probably not, but the Montreal quartet was in a surprisingly nightclubbin’ mood Monday night in Seattle as they continued their ticker tape parade for Expo 86. Arlen Thompsen, drummer, and Dante DeCaro, bassist, completely tipped the scales during the band’s second song “What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had To Go This Way)”, locking LOUDLY in step like rhythm soldiers on a dancefloor march. I’m not sure I ever appreciated the consistent bass thump on many of their songs, but maybe Thompsen, the band’s producer, had something special in mind when he cranked the level on his kick drum. The all-ages crowd absolutely ate it up and it turned the show into a bona fide dance party.
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Of course, the stimulating sweatfest came about not only because of the undeniable thump behind the band’s relentless tunes, but also because of its two-headed frontman. Spencer Krug introduced the show by saying they’d “play a mix of old and new songs”, to which Dan Boeckner augmented, “like a Royal Dinner Buffet”. They were, of course, telling the truth, as the 15-song set consisted of four songs from their debut, four songs from At Mount Zoomer, and seven from their latest. I was a little surprised that they skipped “Little Golden Age”, one of their best new songs, but they atoned by playing “In The Direction of the Moon”, an ominous and operatic rendition of one of Expo 86’s most elaborate and tangled tunes. Hearing that one live (especially Boeckner’s pristine opening guitar riffs) made for a welcome surprise. Both Krug and Boeckner were gracious to no end, and Boeckner noted how much he appreciated the “house party vibe” going on in the front rows.
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Maybe he knows this and maybe he doesn’t, but he is responsible for so much of that intensity and pure energy that transfers to a crowd during a Wolf Parade show. The guy probably sings about the heart so much because that’s what his fabric is made up of. He’s all passion, all spirit, and all heart. Never was this more clear than during “This Heart’s On Fire”—a real fist pumper, literally—and on “Palm Road”, where he made his line “You said it’s killing me / it’s killing me” appear as if it actually might be. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought his Muppet-like herky-jerkiness was its own little fascinating sideshow. I guess Krug gave him a run for his money, though, by disappearing constantly beneath his keyboards, as well as pumping his neck muscles like the queen of the Headbanger’s Ball.
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Some other observations: Krug continues to be one of the nicest and most sincere musicians working today. His constant smile and soft-spoken demeanor, contrasted blatantly by his aberrant and outlandish lyrics, are contagious. “Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts”, with it’s la la la la la la sing-along refrain, could no doubt be an Irish pub song if someone let it. “Soldier’s Grin” was the perfect first song. My photos all pretty much sucked, but I did shoot this nice little video of “California Dreamer”, complete with cheesy little band introductions and a bouncy floor. Set list after the jump/cut/fold/whatever.
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* From “Oh You, Old Thing”
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CHBP Saturday: !!!
Given the sardine-like state of the main stage this past weekend, I didn’t observe (visually) much of what went on at any of the shows I was present for. And, given the horrendous sound engineering, it’s a wonder I even heard anything (chuckle). The spastic Brooklyn dance-funkers !!! were an anticipated highlight of mine, and, logistical issues aside, it was a good show. The sound snafus eliminated from the songs much of their nuance (guitar, synths), reducing them to the overbearing parts of drum, vocals, and bass. Not necessarily a bad thing, still easy to dance to, but it just felt like being cheated.
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As such, I could really only focus on elastic cabinet-climbing frontman Nic Offer, who dutifully lived up to his restless reputation. The whole show had the feel of one big funky séance, as Offer’s jazz hands repeatedly rose from his feet to above his head, palms up, fingers twiddling, and neck craned backwards. The spirit of the crowd was continuously elevated to funky new heights. And if parts of the show didn’t feel like a religious experience, then maybe it felt like the Sexy Super Bowl of Aerobic Instruction, complete with tantalizing calisthenics, sensual cat growls, and pretty pirouettes from the tension-building teacher in short shorts.
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The set list was mostly culled from their forthcoming album Strange Weather, Isn’t It? and 2007’s Myth Takes. “AM/FM” led off, followed shortly thereafter by a very Prince-sounding “Must Be The Moon”. The thick build up of “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass” sounded excellent, as did that spaghetti guitar on “Yadnus” (probably the only guitar I heard). I think “Heart of Hearts” was the finale (though I can’t fully remember). Make a note to see these guys if you haven’t already, just make sure it’s indoors somewhere.
