I’m a little ashamed of my fellow Portland residents for failing to show up to the Doug Fir Wednesday night. We’ve all been watching those ominously dark clouds roll in, and are fully aware they’ll soon be beating down on so many people’s happiness. And that’s why it’s so necessary for us to jump at every opportunity that will fill our minds with sunshine. The tour that brought Free Energy to town this week was one of those opportune moments, and yet only a couple dozen people filed in to bask in it.
Sure, some could find this group’s music a little too pop-driven or immature, and that might have been what held people at bay. After witnessing these guys live, though, it makes no sense why their stuff can’t be loved and appreciated for the happiness it provokes. Sounding like Marc Bolan was enjoying a ball of cotton candy while he wrote a T. Rex album, Free Energy write super fun music that never makes you feel like you’re enjoying a guilty pleasure. And they put on a helluva show to prove it.
Local boys Brainstorm opened for them this night, showing that it doesn’t take more than two dudes to pound out a gigantic sound. Both were highly talented musicians, who took each song to the limit with heavy use of different, yet oddly similar styles and tempos. The guitar oozed out velvet psychedelia, while the drummer picked up the pace with quick handclaps, then rapid drum beats. But that wasn’t the end of that – the song dropped into thoughtful rhythms for a minute, then juiced itself back up into an exciting frenzy. Each song was an elongated affair, and our ears got to hear a little bit of everything in them. I give big props to Patrick Phillips for his mastery of the pedals while playing the guitar, and for his ability to switch to the tuba to darken things up a bit. They do need to find a way to make that tuba more worth their time, though. It’s a fantastic addition to the sound, but I had to fight to hear it most of the time, and it didn’t carry through the mic as clean as it should have.
Both Phillips and drummer Adam Baz have a superb knack for vocals, and their harmonizing was definitely a treat. It was these harmonies that reminded me of Local Natives, even though my photographer disagreed. But that’s okay. I think these guys have the potential to be something even tastier than Local Natives some day.
Hollerado followed the duo, and to be completely honest, I was not expecting an ounce of anything from them. Their choice in band name puzzled me; I couldn’t decide if it was cute, annoying, or awesome. Turns out the former was the truest. Apparently this Canadian foursome are good friends with their headliners, evident by the presence of most of Free Energy in the crowd as Hollerado played their set. This kind of camaraderie placed the friendliest of feelings amongst the bands and the audience, especially when members of the last two groups came from behind the stage to see Brainstorm perform their opening set. Such awesome respect was felt and loved by everyone there.
Like Brainstorm before them, Hollerado produced delightful harmonies, and whenever the vocals felt a bit soft, the use of two brawling guitars made up for it. There were even times the group felt a little like AC/DC, and I never thought I’d say that for a band such as this. Plenty of movement and jumping around went down with the band, and they definitely played the music to back it up. They even claimed to have discovered a song Clyde Drexler had written, and proceeded to sing it with upped energy, and lots of dribbling moves in between. “Americanarama” was likewise fantastic, a song dosed with appropriate "doo-doo-doos," bombastic guitar, and occasional carnival bites. This prompted lead singer Menno Versteeg to tell a story about French cheese being better than American cheese, inspiring drummer Jake Boyd to chirp in with, “This is the only city we can get away with saying something like that, since Portland is so much better than the rest of America.” Versteeg agreed, saying, “Whenever the draft gets reinstated, you’re all welcome to come crash on our couch.”
That’s only a taste of the hilariously wonderful dialogue that went on this night – the best came when Versteeg told the story of when his grandmother found all her farm chickens dead one day, and immediately set to plucking every last one of them, so she could store them away for future dinners. The next day she woke up to find them all alive and running around, he said, and was astounded to learn they had not died, but had just passed out, drunk, from eating a bunch of fermented corn. Versteeg busted out a smile at this and turned to point to the Free Energy members in the crowd: “Remember that night you slept at my Grandma’s place?” It was fantastic watching those two bands communicate with each other all night, as they all stood just a few feet away from us humble fans.
The best was saved for last, though, as Free Energy jumped the stage to join Hollerado in their closing song, and a pretty entertaining free-for-all went down. This segued excellently into the headliners’ closing set, with Free Energy projecting the sunniest of vibes with their happy smiles and enactment of what seemed to be the time of their life. I like to think all three bands went all out in the way they did because they were embracing the emptiness of the room and made the most of it. I can’t give them a big enough “hell yeah!” for turning a potentially lame situation into one I won't forget for awhile.
It wasn’t just the positivity Free Energy brought with them that rocked the crowd so hard, though. This Philly quintet seriously know how to pump out the jams, and each one of them makes you want to go find a beach and dance around on it. Songs like “Bang Pop” and “Dream On” feel plucked from ‘70s AM radio, and spruced up to please the indie kids. They’ve also got the dueling guitarists to add depth and variety to the sound, and lead singer Paul Sprangers amply springs around the stage to hype it. Sprangers also continually looked to the crowd, catching eye contact with almost everyone there, and practically asked them to be as involved as they were. That probably explains his decision to hand yours truly the mic during one of the songs, and ask of me to help sing to the end. I gladly accepted, and it just affirmed the show to be one of the most fun I’ve ever experienced.
Good times definitely rolled this night, and it just reminds me to remind you: music can save your happiness, people! Take advantage of it every chance you get, and use it just as all three of these bands seemed to do. Dance with it, smile with it, and love the hell out of life doin’ it.
