Sunday evening, the prospect of a ear-ringing rock concert did not top my list of desirable leisure activities, but having my first assignment for melophobe, there was no way I was staying in.
Rolling in fashionably late to the Doug Fir, I expected to find a wild, rocking scene. But perhaps people were feeling a similar draw from the warm hearths of their bed that I was. Or maybe everyone else knew better and was waiting to arrive after the opening band, All the Saints, had finished their set. Regardless, as the crowd later filled in, the scene was very chill, which was in shocking contrast to the performances.
When I arrived, I asked the ticket girl how the show was. All she said was, “Loud,” and “there are earplugs if you want them at the bar.” Yikes. When I entered, I was floored by a massive wall of sound, and I made a quick bee-line for the bar. It was well worth the $1 investment, because the earplugs did a remarkable job at cutting through the constant and overwhelming noise and letting in the music. All the Saints delivered a solid performance and clearly left it all out on the stage with their driving, energetic and intense music. The impressive drummer played his heart out. Unfortunately though, the singer sounded quite flat, and the crowd was thin and rather subdued.
These are Powers was next to take the stage and were the highlight of the night. It is best to describe them as electro-hip-hop. With a drummer, bassist, and a girl on both turntables and vocals, this was a group focused primarily on rhythm and percussion. Their idiosyncratic electro-beats were playful, yet raw, primal, passionate, and pure. I had never heard anything like it before, but I couldn’t help but smile and move to the beat.
Finally, the star attraction, A Place to Bury Strangers, had a full audience, but did not live up to their billing. The music was energetic and there were some very interesting and cool style combinations. The guitar was on steroids but was nicely contrasted with a mellow melody. Their schizophrenic fourth song jumped from esoteric electro-weirdness to catchy melodies you could hum to. All this was great and maybe the first half of the performance rather enjoyable. But…the lighting was horrendous: there were no stage lights - just a strobe light and funky images from a projector (never at the same time), and the smoke was so thick you couldn’t see the stage (perhaps I’m biased as my ancient digital camera was no match for this “mood lighting”). Finally, the closing song was endless, and it was impossible to hear the nuances in the music. By the end, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of noise, and I could feel any initial positive feelings for the band being slowly sucked out. Yet in the end, I heard many audience members clapping with glee and proclaiming, “Wow! Crazy! I can’t believe that!” so maybe I’m not the best judge of it.
