The XX/ Friendly Fires Concert ReviewThe XX and Friendly Fires show on December 1st brought an excellent opportunity to see two of indie music’s current gems on display in one night. Expectations were high. Thankfully the bands delivered one of Chicago’s most dynamic concerts of the year.
Just keep on bringing me closer
Hailing from London and currently on a blistering whirlwind tour buzzing around the globe (they are set to return for two more shows in Chicago in April, one with JJ and the other with industry heavyweights Hot Chip) the XX are made up of two 20 year olds with a guest keyboardist/percussionist playing with them on tour. Raking in praise from all sources of the print and blogsphere, the XX currently sit somewhere near the top of emerging buzz bands in the indie world. Your correspondent was anticipating their lack of experience and soft music style might present a problem engaging a full concert hall. These worries were quickly dismissed when the band opened with “Intro” and the crowd fell quietly at their feet. Rolling through the first four songs of their album in order, the band drew us into the tiny world their songs reside in, keeping out of the way to let the listeners mind’s meander into the bedrooms and the backrooms of bars where they might imagine the lyrics of the songs take place. Their bedside manner was finely tuned as Singer- bassist Oliver Sim cooed a simple “Thanks” in a British accent after most songs. The songs themselves took on a new sound as they filled Bottom Lounge, heavy distortion and crisp vocals gave the songs a much warmer feeling then you could hear from your headphones on the way to work. Singer-guitarist Romy Madley Croft demonstrated that it was in fact her who you came to see, as she all but had the audience dabbing at their noses with their sleeves after soul laden “Shelter”. I suggest you go see them if you can on their upcoming tour, as they are worth any price of admission. Yes XX; I am yours now, so now I don’t ever have to leave.
After all this time
This was the second appearance in Chicago for British Friendly Fires after their Sunday afternoon Lollapalooza performance. I made the mistake of choosing to see Ra Ra Riot over the Friendly Fires that day. The grand stage of Lolla was no place for the squeaky Ra Ra Riot to be performing, as their set sounded acoustically terrible and I spent most of the time watching them on the video screen as they appeared forever distant in the afternoon sun (their performance at Schubas this fall more then made up for it though). Eager to get this bad taste out of my mouth, my crew was 10 feet from the stage and ready to party. Opener “Lovesick” kicked off the show, and I don’t think anyone stopped moving their feet for the next 90 minutes. Lead singer Ed Macfarlane is a showman to say the least. His dance moves emulate a baby fawn learning to walk on ice; call it goofy, call it silly, but don’t call it boring. It’s almost like his dancing is there to say “See look how much fun I’m having? Dance with us!” Unknown to me, they performed with a full band, including two trumpets and two drummers/bassists, allowing each song to reach its full potential. Guitarist Edd Gibson was a pleasant surprise, his guitar solos sent “Strobe” into a dizzying U2-esque spiral and made “White Diamonds” sound like a bona fide rock and roll song. The crowd was smitten, and clamored for a good ten minutes in cheer for an encore before they came out to close with “Ex-Lover”. Dear Friendly Fires, I will never sleep on you guys again.
Et Cetera
Cheers to the Bottom Lounge for bring in two great acts and being able to handle the acoustical differences both these bands presented. Also thanks to Mr. Dan Melillo for the tickets!
Till next time,
Kris
The Sound of Settling: Death Cab Concert ReviewI am sure we have all read the old fable Rip Van Winkle, whose protagonist Rip falls asleep in a field, to later wake up and discover that he has time traveled to a different place and a different time. I’m sure some fans of Death Cab lately have arrived at similar sensations lately, seeing the once regionally tied Northwestern band suddenly doing interviews in the USA Today and their new album Narrow Stairs debuting at number 1 on the billboard top 100 list.
To be fair, it wasn’t really the band’s fault to start with. The venue that Death Cab played at in Chicago is generally not an Indie band scene. Jay Spritzer Pavilion is an acoustically and aesthetically grand open air stage set in Millennium Park, right across the way from one of top tourist spots in Chicago, the Bean. The Pavilion allows for guest to come and spread out their blankets on the grassy promenade, whip out the Chardonnay and Whole Food’s Hummus or what not, and gaily listen to the sounds of whoever is playing on stage that night. With tickets priced at 10 dollars for the lawn seats, Chicago’s finest suburbians and local hipsters snatched up the tickets quicker then you can say “I-Pass” and told their friends and coworkers for weeks about how cool it was that the band they were going to see all of sudden had their songs on the radio and fancied themselves cultural for going to the park after work instead of home to watch “Dancing with the Stars”
Before I become hypocritical, everyone becomes a fan at some point. I began to like Death Cab after hearing “Photobooth” on one my brother’s mixes. In any occasion in life, there are very few people there in the beginning; probably less then 100 people saw Michael Jordan catch his first alley-oop pass, few probably read Robert Frost’s first poem, and no one remembers that Francis Ford Copolla thought Robert DeNiro was too ugly to be in the first Godfather. The point of this though isn’t to be the guy yelling “I was there! I saw them in ’93! I knew they were cool before you did!” (Interruption: Listen to LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge” for more on this sensation) No, the point is to look at its unattended effects, especially on our culture. People for the most part are bored, unhappy, and dissatisfied with their lives. Numerous studies show it, it’s even been a focal point of Barack Obama’s recent championing of the “Change” campaign in his election bid. Where does this come from? Crappy Jobs? People have had crappy jobs forever. I don’t think one of the dudes laying bricks for one of the Pyramids who died before it was ever finished probably thought his job was too sweet. There are obviously numerous explanations and theories, but I think at heart, people are not embracing things they truly enjoy. One of them is music. With record companies and radio shoving Nickelback down our throats, people lack choices. So the mainstream latches on to what is available to them.
This was on display at the concert on Tuesday night. With a vibe more reminiscent of a Cubs game, chattering, people watching, and gazing at the skyline all took precedence over the music. Odd sights were seen, such as two 50 year olds exuberantly dancing with each other to the song “Tiny Vessels”, a song about using a girl for her looks. It was also the first time a person with a baby perched on their shoulders blocked my view of the stage. Overall, there was a sense of confusion from the concertgoer , a sense of “What’s the big deal about this band?” and “Why isn’t he playing any of those Postal Service songs?” It was almost like watching someone play golf for the first time, duffing the ball all day, and wondering how this could be a fun game. This left the people who were true fans of the band and their music feeling like outsiders, a unique situation at a concert.
Which is all in all unfortunate for Death Cab, they deserve better then to continue to be hit with this onslaught of phony popularity they have been riding since their appearance on the O.C. Admittedly, their moving past their peak as a band judging by their old albums, but their new album Narrow Stairs, is a fine album. Tracks such as “Cath…” and “Grapevine Fires” are as good as any songs they have produced in their career. Hopefully they felt the vibe on stage themselves and will go back to playing in smaller venues and embrace the fans who helped them become the band they are today.
She & Him - Debut Review
Zooey D stole some hipster hearts last night; mine included. Not exactly the most unbiased way to start a review, but what are you going to do. Half the appeal of the newly formed She & Him lies in the celebrity of one Zooey Dechanel (it doesn’t hurt that she has paired up with the incomparable M. Ward). They recently put together a pretty quality LP entitled Volume I. Overall, I give this an 8.5/10. I’ll be honest, that’s more so than most reviewers, but I’m a sucker for risk takers. I like the Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse’s (pre cracked-out), and now the She & Him’s who are willing to mix up convention. But, this isn’t an album review so much as a concert review.
I’m telling you the show was pretty decent, besides the short run time of less than 1 hour. Zooey had lost her voice, so refrained from talking between songs. But, surprisingly, it didn’t affect her singing all that much… she trudged on with the occasional cracked note and sang her signature Folk-Americana-Country-Jazz-Indie sound; surprisingly representative of the album. M. Ward takes a back seat to this collaboration, but nevertheless provides amazingly smoky, soulful background that enhances the overall sound She & him is going for.
The hyped ‘Why Don’t You Let Me Stay Here” lived up, as Zooey rocked out on Keyboard, and her voice rang true to the sentiment of the song. “Change is Hard” slowed the crowd down to just the right pace. A great interlude and a solid way to showcase the voices of Zooey and M. By far the most crowd enjoyable tune of the evening was the finale of “Sweet Darling” – a late 60’s throwback with the backbone to get a crowd moving and wishing for more.
I’ll say the best part of the night was seeing Zooey’s youthful enthusiasm for being on stage. When M. Ward would be rockin a solo, she was wide eyed, grin from ear to ear, looking at the crowd with the admiration we were equally returning. I say it was great as it’s refreshing to see artists who don’t expect admiration, don’t expect praise. They preform their craft and create music for themselves that we, the crowd, loves. There’s something to say about musical inhibitions when its clearly overshadowed by raw talent.
If you aren’t fortunate enough to live in NYC, LA, or San Fran, you may be out of luck to catch them. They chose to debut their songs on a whopping 3 city, 4 date tour. I think their expectations under estimated the true impact of their music.
I highly recommend checking them out… it will mix up the typical indie tunes with some solid country throwbacks. If you get the chance to see them live, hit it up. Ifor no other reason than the beautiful Zooey Dechanel.
