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June 06, 2005
I've got a number on me
Wolf Parade - 6/4/05 - Piano's, NYC
(non-sequential set list, if anyone remembers this better, please comment): New Song (Dan said, "we just wrote that last week")/Killing Armies/We Built Another World/New Song/It's a Curse/Secret Knives/You Are a Runner, I am My Father's Son (holy good god- either they jammed out on this one really hard, or they attached another new song to the end of it)/I'll Believe in Anything, You'll Believe in Anything (dedicated to both Hadji and the Believer's Matthew Derby)/This Heart's On Fire/new song/old song (according to the band, but it's never been released).
Wolf Parade put on an absolute killer show this past Saturday night, and just totally owned it. Despite Dan's illness (he said at the start that he was both 'sick and drunk'), and the absence of Hadji, the band energetically ripped through a ton of songs, new and old, and were amazingly polite, self-deprecating, and charming. Plus the crowd was great- people there obviously knew a lot of their material (even the Cbc Radio sessions), and even tried to cajole Spencer into playing 'Dear Sons and Daughters...' by singing the initial 'la-la-la-la-la-la' of the song (he just smiled at them). The new songs were high-energy and insanely good (the 'written last week' one was fast and sweet, and there was one that started out with the drumbeat from 'Be My Baby' that was the best thing I've ever heard from them), and the band just dominated the older stuff, nailing every nuance of the recorded versions while also exceeding those versions in almost every aspect (this is definitely a band whose live stuff should be taped).
Their setup was pretty simple, with Dan on guitar, Arlen on drums, and Spencer on dual keyboards. Dan also played a small silver box (of what I can only assume was tangled and complicated gadgetry) that had an antenna extending out of the top, which he would sort of karate-chop to produce a fluctuating squeal (like a theremin, it operated on proximity of hand, I think) like the ones heard in 'Same Ghost Every Night'. They all looked like they were having a blast though: Dan shook around like a live-wire and sang with just unrelenting passion, Arlen was pouding the drums like a goddamn machine and smiled widely the entire time (my friend said he looked like the nephew of John Bonham, with his long hair and beard), and Spencer had his hands buried in his keyboard like he was performing emergency surgery on some sort of exotic animal. They all seem to be very absorbed in their own music, but Dan and Spencer particularly were a nice juxtaposition, with Dan's jagged, quick movements and intense singing vs. Spencer's closed-eyed/close-mic'd crooning and fluid playing, all of them (Arlen and his grinning) very obviously 'in it'. After seeing them play, there is no doubt in my mind that they will release one of the best (if not the best) albums of the year when "Apologies to the Queen Mary" comes out on September 27th (according to Sub Pop). [Buy the band's second EP at either Cheap Thrills or Alien 8] In the meantime you can also salivate over their forthcoming EP, due for a July 12th release, [update] and you can now order Spencer's Sunset Rubdown album, "Snake's Got a Leg", from the nice people at Global Symphonic.
p.s. Hannah Marcus and Brother Danielson (Daniel Smith was interviewed by Rick Moody at the show and then played some songs) were both awesome as well- H.M. especially was a revelation, with a sweet, very sultry voice, and long atmospheric songs that reminded me of a less dour Elizabeth Anka Vajagic, in a way. Plus, you know, 5/6 of the band is composed of very attractive women, which never hurts (and the lone guy is Thierry Amar, from Godspeed You! Black Emperor- v. cool).
no mp3 today, too tired. I'm sorry. However, good news right now that you can take heart in: Insound is having a gigantic summer sale for brand new customers[JUST KIDDING, IT DOESN'T START UNTIL JUNE 21ST]- so if you've never ordered anything there before, you can get 30% off of your initial purchase, which is a pretty sweet deal indeed- unless, of course, like me you've ordered stuff from there before, in which case: tough luck. I'll send you an orange juice coupon in the mail to make it up to you (have lots around my apartment, for reasons I choose not to disclose).
Posted by Kevin at June 6, 2005 03:53 AM
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