“I’m put together beautifully/Big wet bottle in my fist/big wet rose in my teeth/I’m a perfect piece of ass.”
The National entered the spotlight at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on Friday night as you’d expect them to: upstanding, cool, dark suited and tied. Matt Berninger sings, “showered and blue-blazered/fill yourself with quarters,” over brothers Dressner and Devendorf’s calm, sorrowful instrumentation on “Mistaken for Strangers.” At first, the lights were low, and the sound was bad. Matt left the stage frequently between songs, and finally returned with a full bottle of wine all for himself. It’s only just begun.
The sound’s been adjusted and Matt’s made it a glass or so in by the time we get to “Afraid of Everyone,” one of the many odes to the loneliness of aging on the Brooklyn band’s latest masterpiece, High Violet. He starts singing more forcefully and loses his footing occasionally as he circles the stage, slightly frantic. Lost in the brightening lights, he begins to crack as he repeats the song’s closing line, “Your voice is swallowing my soul soul soul.” He’s not singing to us as much as speaking for us.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Justin Bieber,” said Kevin Drew dramatically towards the end of Broken Social Scene’s free set in front of an absolutely packed Amoeba Music in Hollywood yesterday. “Maybe too much talk!”
The 6 members of the Juno Award-winning Canadian indie band (plus occasional 3-piece horn section and other various guests) could barely navigate the small stage at Amoeba without bumping into each other. But all of that concentrated energy only helped make the show that much better. “Here’s one that got us here,” said Drew as he went into set opener, “Superconnected.” from the band’s 2005 self-titled record.
Drew explained that Broken Social Scene had played Amoeba before. “But it wasn’t like this,” he said, pointing out to the sea of people who filled the warehouse sized record store, “All I see are heads.” The horn section squeezed on and off stage as needed, and made their way to the front for the ending of “7/4 Shoreline,” one of the band’s career highlights. From my angle to the right, all you could see was a line of instruments protruding in all directions from the stage.
The Morning Benders looked and sounded like a seasoned veteran band Thursday at the Troubadour in LA, despite not looking a day over 16. I’m actually not sure how old they are (18?), and for the most part, it couldn’t have mattered less. Lead singer and guitarist Chris Chu, though still adjusting to the spotlight, delivered the band’s critically acclaimed indie tracks almost flawlessly to the packed, LA venue.
“You guys came to see us?” he asked, after mentioning that the San Francisco band had played the venue as an opener a few times before. Yes, we came to see The Morning Benders, especially after the release of their incredible Rough Trade debut, Big Echo. They proved themselves instantly, grabbing everyone’s attention with “Stitches,” as the line “you don’t know me by name” built into a sea of guitar distortion and pounding drums.
I’m jealous of how much Peter Bjorn and John love their jobs. The Swedish band recently embarked on a short, 13-date US “Birthday Tour” to celebrate their 10-year anniversary of making contagious, sophisticated indie-poprok goodness. Even though things got off to a slow start Saturday night at the tour’s final stop at Club Nokia in LA, they didn’t stay that way for long.
Guitarist Peter Moren, bassist Bjorn Yttling, and drummer John Eriksson ably flailed about the stage, instruments in hand (including, at one point, drum stands), with the stamina and vigor of 16-year-olds in a Kiss cover band. Writer’s Block’s “Amsterdam” proved a bit of a weak opener, but PB&J quickly settled into the stage and pumped out an intensely spirited set of their career highlights. And, despite the aforementioned flailing, did it without missing a note.
Vampire Weekend’s self titled debut marked the first time in recent memory that my Album of the Year was decided in January. After nearly two years of missing the band in NY (even having to give away a ticket to go to a company Christmas party), I managed my way to Long Beach last night for the kick off of their California Mini-Tour (stopping in one Starbucks towns like Pioneertown, Lomita, and Visalia) in promotion of their upcoming sophomore, Contra. The Art Theater of Long Beach had been converted into an unconventional music venue, with first come first serve seating and some limited standing area by the stage.
In front of a crowd of about 200, the young New York City band wasted no time getting into new material, opening with long-time live staple, “White Sky,” which will appear on Contra. Other new tracks included “Holiday,” “California English,” “Run,” and “Cousins,” which is heavy on the surf guitar and quickly becoming my new favorite. The new single, “Horchata” (‘dedicated to Lola’s across the street,’ where they apparently have really good horchata), sounded particularly tight for a new addition.
“I don’t know how to talk about music,” admitted lead singer Victoria Legrande halfway through Beach House’s set at The Hollywood Palladium last night. Even though her between song stage banter could have been slightly more articulated (it was still pretty amusing), Legrande instead spoke to the audience through her band’s ever-alluring, dreamy indie-pop ballads. Her enchanting vocals carried the bands otherwise minimal live set-up (3 piece, no bass guitar), with little to no back-ups.
I had previously seen the band in festival settings, including 2008’s Siren Fest at Coney Island and this summer’s Jelly Pool Party in Williamsburg (also with Grizzly Bear). With music better suited for a small indoor venue, the change of setting made a world of difference for the band’s live sound, which seemed a bit overly washed out from the end of Stillwell Avenue. The addition of a live drummer succeeded in bulking up the drum machine lead tracks, adding a slow, steady punch to the band’s earlier material.
