The Hawthorne Theatre, hot and humid as usual, was nearly full when the openers hit the stage. "Hi, we're Rubik! We're from Helsinki, Finland," front man Artturi Taira said in his normal voice. Then his unusually high singing voice kicked in for the next tune. Must be something in the water over there. The mostly underage crowd dug it immediately. Rubik's songs hit you with yards-long earnestness. There's lots of bells and whistles. Primitive, yet tactile orchestration set the tone as the sextet coursed through a myriad of time changes - sometimes quiet as a church mouse, sometimes as loud as hell thunder, especially when the double trombone action kicked in.
Most of the tunes came off their second full length, Dada Bandits, which is generating quite the buzz indie press-wise. Rubik threw all their influences into the clanging mix - everything from Travis to
Jackson Browne could be heard amidst the various rhythms. They're young and confident and seem nonplussed by indie rock decorum, using a clapping track on a few songs to fool and fuel the crowd. Rubik likes the clapping.
It would be an understatement to say the crowd was anxious to hear David Bazan. A long revered figure nationwide and especially in the Northwest, Bazan started with a few Pedro the Lion songs, the band he led into prominence a decade ago. Bazan's set was spare and unadorned, just him and his guitar and seemingly the weight of the world as evidenced by the resignation and weariness in his voice. Songs from his first solo LP tenderized and mesmerized the sweltering audience as they pushed forward for a closer look. "Beer and Cigarettes," despite it's grim subject matter and "what a cruel God we've got" lyrics, held everyone in rapt attention. Bazan thanked the crowd several times during his set, throwing in some advice about the vagaries of friendship. Ah, yes, it's hard to find a friend. The wiley veteran pulled out his signature Bob Dylan cover, "The Man in Me," featured in "The Big Lebowski." Faithfully rendered, faithfully received.
It seemed a long wait for headliners mewithoutYou, but perhaps the Hawthorne was trying to sell more two dollar bottled water from the vending machine. MewithoutYou started with a hush, which quickly gave way to pump-it-up drums, hand-clapping and a crowd sing along, all in the second tune. The crowd gave big love to their Philly heroes, becoming a sea of sweaty, moshing arms and legs. One stage-diver almost took a header on the hardwood floor. MewithoutYou responded with raucous sea chanties and ethereal twin guitar breaks, splintering across barren wild west soundscapes. Lead guy Aaron Weiss strapped on his accordion mid-set, taking it down a notch. This sly wizard of sincerity actually defines heart-on-his-sleeve sentiments instead of mocking them - pretty refreshing in this day and age.
With all the love coming from the crowd, you knew there would be an encore. Although mewithoutYou continued playing less popular b-sides, the crowd went nuts and took over the stage for the last number, which apparently is de riguer for these guys (and one girl). Fifty or so of the faithful sang along and banged along, heedless of the ever increasing temperature. Later on I heard someone say it wasn't "junk" enough. Well mewithoutYou circa 2010 have left the junk behind to give the people what they want.
