gigawave

I have been a fan of French Kicks ever since Trial of the Century came out in 2004, so you can imagine how I psyched I was when they announced this show. Since I knew I was going to attend, I waited until the date to buy their new album, Swimming, right then and there. Oh man, hearing all the new stuff live for the first time was really satisfying. I had only listened to “Said So What”, “Atlanta”, “Sex Tourists”, “Carried Away”, and “Abandon” before getting the album and I was struck by how tight and catchy they were. The band weaves some old timing pop melodies that have become their signature style–the trembling guitar, bouncing drums, and minimalistic piano parts. Despite the addition of Aaron Thurston on drums in 2004, Nick still writes all the drum parts. One welcome change was allowing Josh to sing on more songs. During the show he sang “Said So What” & “Carried Away”–two of my favorites off the album. Three of the songs off Swimming were written solely by Mr. Wise. Speaking of his talents, the album art this time was a collaborative effort between the whole band, as opposed to Wise’s creative control on the album art for Two Thousand and many of the t-shirt designs.

It was a bit of a bummer seeing such a scanty crowd, all standing at least three feet away from the stage, but I’m not surprised. It is Kansas City, and it was a Monday night. I cringed though when in between songs Nick mentioned that he felt like he was “at a recital.” Ouch. In the beginning he tried to shimmy and groove a little on stage (which was humorous), but in the end I think he gave up trying to spur us to dance. It was good hearing them play some old songs like “Trial of the Century,” “So Far We Are” and “England Will Just Not Let You Recover.” I wish they had played “Knee High” and I mentioned it to Nick later, to which he promptly responded “You should have just called it out.” I know! Why am I such a wallflower? I guess it was because the crowd was just so unresponsive I didn’t want to attract any notice or be that kid that shouts out song titles.

An endearing part of their performance was seeing Lawrence and Nick trade instruments, with Nick sporting the bass while Lawrence took over on the telecaster for a couple of songs. I suppose I am also impressed with Nick being able to play every instrument featured on the album. When speaking to him earlier he mentioned that he always really liked Pittsburgh after I asked him if they’d ever played there. Sweet! He also said that he liked the atmosphere of the Recordbar; of course, that was before they played, so maybe he changed his mind, haha.

Frightened Rabbit opened up for them, and they were really good. I was surprised at how great the sound was at the Recordbar. I am so used to stuff either being way too loud, or just generally shitty, so this was very relieving. There’s nothing that sucks more than paying $12 cover to get into the show and having it sound like crap. Anyhow, they played some stuff I recognized like “The Greys”, “Be Less Rude” and maybe “Square 9″? They also improvised a lot of instrumental jamming into some songs, which was loud and gritty. They had a laptop on stage of which I am not sure what the function was. Their vocalist was real high-energy and slicked with sweat by the end of the set. If I hadn’t killed all my cash on the concert ticket and Swimming, I would have definitely bought the new Frightened Rabbits album, The Midnight Organ Fight. Luckily for me, I found a a leaked version through Filestube.com. Hah, that site is pure gold.

One For the Team was the first opener, but I didn’t get there until they had finished up. Shitty day at work = two hour nap for me. I did get to talk to one of the dudes afterward, though. Because the Recordbar has this lame policy of kicking out minors once the show is over, the dudes were sitting outside as I was leaving. I mentioned Hedgu and the night they played Pittsburgh (simultaneous with first game of Stanley Cup!). Hopefully they will come play Pittsburgh again as it is rather sad that I have missed them twice within a month’s time.

listen:

French Kicks – Oh Fine [from Trial of the Century]
French Kicks – Knee High [from Two Thousand]
French Kicks – What You Want [b-side]
French Kicks – New Man [from Swimming]

Frightened Rabbit – The Greys [from Sing the Greys]
Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood [from The Midnight Organ Fight]

Usually I cut straight to the music, but I personally feel like this is a rather narrow view; there is a lot more than just the acoustics of the performance that make a live show a great experience. After I rushed through my chores, I went up to Lawrence, saw the foreboding flashes of lightning and entered the Jackpot Saloon to a bit of a meager crowd. Boo & Boo Too were finishing a deluge of their rough workings. As soon as Snowden took the stage a group of friends come up with at least four shots to liquor these fellows up. Corinne Lee, their bassist, kindly seemed to decline, but then just downed her share so she could finish setting up her equipment while one of the girls quipped “That’s a good girl.” They dispersed except for one girl who stayed and stared a hole through the center of the stage as Jordan Jeffares, the vocalist, sound checked. Sometimes I wonder if I’m like that when I’m drunk.

While Snowden were setting up, I talked to a guy who said he moved from Wichita to Lawrence because he got bored of the scene there. He kept his job as a grocer though–specializing in the clean presentation of produce. I wondered if maybe he needed to change his scene in order to see what’s around him in a new light. I left briefly for a cigarette and started conversation with two guys who traveled from Denver to see Colour Revolt play. I also saw the flyer for Modey Lemon (June 26th), and who else but Boo & Boo Too opening?

As soon as I started shooting Snowden (I panicked for two songs because I thought I left my SD card at home, luckily it was elsewhere in my bag) a man behind me perked his interest and asked who I work for–”A zine based in Pittsburgh” (lies)–”What’s your web address?”–”Can I give it to you later?”– I cross to the other side of the stage. I thought because the ceiling was low, I could spread the flash better. No. It’s at this point where I wish the ceiling wasn’t dripping on me and that I could set up different slave flashes to help. And then I heard “Between the Rent and Me” and realized why I was there; it’s to materialize my memory of the music and what better way to do it than to smile and laugh and think about all those different moments of listening to it by myself. Jordan, who is normally a steady crooner, had mic trouble and had to stop after “Black Eyes” to alleviate the troublesome issue. At least with the drums loud and clear people had the beat to guide them, but it would have been a bad first impression for those who had no acquaintance with Snowden, such as the grocer next to me. Nevertheless, they executed the last song, “Victim Card”, with ease–starting slow and bringing it to the pace that could easily have happened earlier if not for a slight buzzkill in sound problems. I’m sad that “Anti-Anti” felt emptier than I imagined it to be, but the new songs (Candy for Everyone and Red-Handed) helped change it up.

I enjoyed Colour Revolt, despite my unfamiliarity with their songs. Five very well put-together guys, each conquering his own sound and letting it exude a jarring composition. One of them made love to his amp from time to time so that the feedback came out really elegant and controlled. Their lead singer went back and forth between thrumming with fingers and picking quick riffs. When he raged, his fired-up vocals provoked a tsunami of emotion to blast from his small, watery eyes. Man, could this guy serve you up a swift screech. “Moses of the South” sounds so good live, and I wasn’t really psyched about that song when I heard it before. Then the song that they played harmonica-less sounded like it wasn’t missing a thing and the slick tempo changes throughout their set were very engaging.

I’m really glad I came to this show, as it was extremely enlightening to talk to Jordan about different cities and politics, to hear Corinne express her great affection for the Philippines and Farsi (as well as for lifedrawing and sewing), to meet the super chill doorman, watch the lovely and fastidious bartender make drinks and to take my brother to his first rock show when he would have otherwise spent it in front of the TV.