Heartless Bastards were already on stage when we squeezed onto the packed floor at the Metro. I hadn't heard their music before, but their blues-tinged rock was enjoyable, and lead singer Erika Wennerstrom's voice is amazing.
Colin Meloy talked about the process of selecting the night's set list as an introduction. The 'All Request' online vote notched up 20 000 votes but as Meloy noted, there were only about 1000 of us present. So, he drily concluded, they might be playing for the 19 000 others. And then he warned us that poll results were pretty much as expected, so if we were one of the fifteen who voted for an obscure song then we were probably going to be disappointed. I prepared myself. Then they launched into the Tain, all 18 minutes of it. ?!
After that unusualy start though, the set list did run along 'best of' lines, albeit with an emphasis on The Crane Wife songs. Though the band on stage included Becky Sharp (of Lavendar Diamonds) and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), their Hazards of Love lineup, material from their latest album was restricted to only The Rake's Song, though Meloy reassured the audience that the next day's set at Lollapalooza would be the Hazards of Love in its entirety. He also, at this point, took time to make fun of people who choose to shorten Lollapalooza to Lolla, which included their stage manager (and me).
There was such a great atmosphere during the concert. The band sounded great, polished but enthursed, and Becky and Shara's voices worked beautifully with Colin Meloy's, providing a lively, lovely countepart to his distinctive voice. There was a nice emphasis on interaction between fans and the band too, from Meloy's constant banter with the audience between songs - Meloy quipped that a lull while instruments were being tuned was by request too - to the hilarious contest between upper and lower floors iniated by Meloy during an extended 16x32. He asked each level to sing the 'la-di-dah' refrain, while shaking our fists in mock rage, to see who was the loudest. Sure, we must have looked ridiculous, but it was so much fun! From the grins all around me, in the balcony above, and those onstage, I'd say that everyone was having a good time. I felt like that for the whole show; I could've heard them play for hours more.
The Tain
July, July!
The Rake’s Song
Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect
We Both Go Down Together
Yankee Bayonet
The Crane Wife 3
The Calamity Song (new)
16x32
O Valencia
Crazy on You (Heart cover)
Red Right Ankle
Sons and Daughters
The Mariner’s Revenge Song
3 comments:
Post a Comment