It's 9pm at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom. A barrier has been set up in front of the stage. Right. It's going to be one of THOSE shows.
The first opener was unimpressive. Standard 4-piece setup: drums, bass & backing vocals, lead guitar & backing vocals, rhythm guitar & lead singer. Vocalist likely gets by on his James van der Beek-reminiscent look, because it sure can't be that his thin, reedy voice is appealing, or the frequent shakes of his thin, across-his-face hair. The rhythm section is decent, I'll give them that. Very little interaction with the audience. Rule #1 I always thought was: respect the audience, Rule #2 being: if it’s not YOUR audience, convert them. Very little interaction even between band members as well, with the exception of the aforementioned rhythm section. A lot of ‘wannabe a rockstar’ posturing. After half a dozen or so songs, the last of which was noticeably LedZep/Pink Floyd influenced (subtlety in honouring your heroes is always preferable, in my mind; as George Stroumboulopoulos says “a nod to the gods”), I was a little relieved when our time with San Diego’s The Transfer was over.
Cincinnati, Ohio's Walk the Moon were a different story. Mind you, in areas in which the legal age is over 21, the might have a problem as this band's average age by looks alone is about 19. Wonderful energy from this 4-piece: microphones for all, drums, bass, guitar, with the lead singer also doubling on keyboards and a stand-up drum. All four were set up in a row near the front of the stage. All band members had good connections with the crowd, and interactions varied, but they were there (practitioners of Rules #1 and 2, as above). They were enjoying themselves and their upbeat music showed it. The music is definitely radio-friendly and rhythmically diverse (great syncopation in the first song), the closest band I can sort of compare them to is Young the Giant (with a bit of classic Blur thrown in) who are currently enjoying some great success. I wish Walk the Moon equally well (drummer's fashion sense notwithstanding. Style intervention, please! *g*) – being signed to a major label like RCA should help in that regard. Their set was about as long as that of the first support act, with much differing results, they'd impressed me by song 2 (no pun intended). Buying the 3-song EP.
The main event: Kaiser Chiefs. You know you like a band when you can’t remember which of their many great songs actually ‘did it’, turned you into a fan. I do have the June 2007 issue of Q Magazine, so it's been at least that long. I’ve always enjoyed them lyrically: cynical, funny, often biting, minimal sugar-coating, but above all smart. Vocally strong without sounding like notes are being pushed: vocal range is similar, safe even, but the songs don’t sound the same. Tempo changes, mood changes, tunes that are more melodic and others that are more rhythmic in nature – Kaiser Chiefs have some really lovely variety. The energy of the songs is contagious and seeing/hearing that in a live setting is even more so. Great interaction with the audience, no more “we are Kaiser Chiefs” after every few songs (I only heard it twice in their 90-minute set, incl. encore). What I also appreciated was the absence of expletives. Maybe one solitary F-bomb, that’s it (take note: Mother Mother's Ryan Guldemond).
Lead singer Ricky Wilson appeared almost everywhere: on the barrier to the moat (security prevented a crowd surf, would’ve made singing difficult I imagine), on the monitors, on the stage left speakers, in front of the bar on the west side of the venue, and always very much aware of the audience. The crowd on the floor was very responsive, don’t know how it was for the side tables, I’ve never seen a show from the sidelines. No mosh pit, no excessive pushing from the back towards the front: thank you, everyone in the audience. I don’t know the songs off The Future is Medieval (or Start the Revolution Without Me) well, yet, so I happily used them as my resting songs, saving my energy and my voice for the ones I know so well and happily exhausted myself for. Enjoying eye contact for the first four lines of Ruby wasn’t too shabby either (they’re in my favourite quotes section on my Facebook page, by the way). A very nice stagehand gave me a setlist to take away: never discount the power of a friendly voice and pleases and thank yous, people, even when (especially when) you don’t get what you asked for. All in all, a blissfully enjoyable and physically exhausting evening of musical joy. Don’t judge me: the selfish part of me wishes they will always play in intimate venues like the Commodore, but I believe they can absolutely rock a stadium. I’d love to see it, especially on their home turf, so I’m all the more grateful for that intimacy of smaller venues (ca. 1,000 person capacity). Thank you for a most enjoyable Saturday Night…hint, hint for next time.
Photo credit: Walk the Moon: http://walkthemoonband.com/category/media/photos/
Kaiser Chiefs’ March 24/2012 setlist: Sigrid Bernhoerster
Cincinnati, Ohio's Walk the Moon were a different story. Mind you, in areas in which the legal age is over 21, the might have a problem as this band's average age by looks alone is about 19. Wonderful energy from this 4-piece: microphones for all, drums, bass, guitar, with the lead singer also doubling on keyboards and a stand-up drum. All four were set up in a row near the front of the stage. All band members had good connections with the crowd, and interactions varied, but they were there (practitioners of Rules #1 and 2, as above). They were enjoying themselves and their upbeat music showed it. The music is definitely radio-friendly and rhythmically diverse (great syncopation in the first song), the closest band I can sort of compare them to is Young the Giant (with a bit of classic Blur thrown in) who are currently enjoying some great success. I wish Walk the Moon equally well (drummer's fashion sense notwithstanding. Style intervention, please! *g*) – being signed to a major label like RCA should help in that regard. Their set was about as long as that of the first support act, with much differing results, they'd impressed me by song 2 (no pun intended). Buying the 3-song EP.
