Elbow
@ Mississippi Nights 4/9/02
For about 45 minutes on Tuesday night, St. Louis was cool. Then, Elbow stopped playing and we slowly crept back to reality.
Unofficially hailed as the best band in England by Uncut magazine, the Manchester-based quintet turned out seven sweeping prog-rock epics containing loads of haunting melodies and grinding guitar. Unfairly tarred with the “New Acoustical Movement” tag, Elbow seemed intent on informing us that quiet is not the new loud. (Incidentally, maybe they should inform headliner Peter Yorn of this.)
With each listen revealing new depths, Elbow’s songs are the definition of elevated balladry. “Newborn” is a complicated, angst-filled epic that builds to a frenzied climax, and “Red” is the penetrating love song about a girl with red hair.
With whiny, Tim Buckley-influenced, angst-in-a-bag rock like JJ72 currently having its day, we see Elbow and Doves waiting in the wings. For as the hollow acoustic rock wears out its welcome, a couple of bands with a little more substance are eager to have a chance at some beautiful salvation. Like Elbow says, may the New Acoustic Movement “be the corpse in the bathtub.”
Hayden
@ Duck Room 4/15/02
Sad songs have a funny way of making you feel good at the same time. Somewhere, buried underneath all the loneliness and despair, we find hope in songs of sorrow, making us feel like tomorrow will be a better day. One listen to the Flaming Lips’ “Waiting For Superman” illustrates our point.
Canadian-born singer/songwriter Hayden must be unique then, since his songs only bring us down. Maybe it’s his deep baritone voice or his broken, imperfect guitar, but Hayden is severely depressing. That’s not to say that he isn’t a fairly interesting and competent performer. Clever craft and a lazy delivery somehow added up to something intriguing, as Hayden churned out one murder ballad after another, hinting at his expertise in broken relationships.
Playing a healthy portion from Skyscraper National Park, Hayden dipped generously into his equally melancholy back catalog. Our favorite was an obvious choice. “Bad As They Seem” found Hayden singing, “Girl of my dreams/Things are as bad as they seem.” Through this revelation, we saw signs of life. And when he vows to “get out some more and go down to the grocery store,” we finally found the hope we’d been looking for.
Motorhead
@ Pop’s 4/16/02
“This place is open 24/7 and you’re surrounded by strip clubs,” said Motorhead leader Lemmy. “What else do you want?” he asked.
Not our exact sentiments, but we certainly agree Pop’s was one hell of a place to catch Motorhead perform a set of high-octane, three-minute explosions on Tuesday night. With supplemental scenery in place (topless women and toothless men), we stood in the back and kept eye contact to a minimum as the English trio played a business-as-usual set of hits, album tracks and covers.
Early on, we prematurely pumped our fist four times thinking we’d just heard the intro to “Ace of Spades,” only to realize the riff had been recycled generously for their new record, Hammered. Things picked up with “God Save the Queen” and “Sacrifice,” and got even nastier with “Born to Raise Hell.” As the Lemmy’s barking got more intense and the guitar solos stifling the already stifled in audience, we found Motorhead in the midst of a scorcher.
The first song of the encore was “Ace of Spades,” and that’s all you really need to know. So, rather than go on, we’ll stop and let you think about how great that must have been.
The Beta Band
@ Vic Theatre 4/18/02
As the Beta Band struck the first chord to set-opener, “Quiet,” on Thursday, all anyone could see were the emergency lights around Chicago’s cavernous Vic Theatre. The power went out, and things looked grim.
But being professionals, the Beta Band decided to carry on. Calling for the nearly sold-out crowd to be totally silent, and being lit on-stage by flashlights, they took to bongos and acoustic guitars to perform “Quiet” and “Human Being” from Hot Shots II. Talkers were silenced by attentive die-hards and Stephen Mason’s monk-like baritone echoed beautifully throughout the room.
A lengthy percussion jam followed, as drums, bongos, wooden blocks and triangles were nicely complemented with bursts of jubilant brass. Then, after realizing the show wasn’t going to happen, the Betas reached back for one more piece of magic.
A 10-minute “Dry the Rain” resulted, as the audience quietly accompanied Mason on the jubilant outro. “If there’s something inside that you want to say/Say it alright it’ll be OK,” sang 2,400 people in perfect unison.
So just as disappointment seemed inevitable, the Beta Band pulled off the unthinkable by cheering us up with a powerful display of grace and dignity. We’ve got goose bumps just thinking back on it.
Waterloo
@ Frederick’s 4/20/02
Nadine and Waterloo are the only two bands in this city that deserve your total attention. And now that Nadine has garnered some praise and appears to be on the slow ascent to stardom, attention should be turned to Waterloo.
With just a handful of appearances each year, a Waterloo live show is a special thing. With an emphasis of quality over quantity, the quartet only plays out when they’ve really got something to show us.
On Saturday, the band got more attractive. Two new debuts and a Neil Diamond cover highlighted a set that was also devoted to songs from Going to the Sun. “The Next Time” is a great straightforward rock song, highlighted by Mark Ray’s laid-back vocals, and guitar player Chris Grabau played some impressive lead during “In the Reeds.”
Our expected highlight, though, was the joyous, set-closing “Picture Start.” Call it instrumental euphoria, as a bright guitar riff built to a climax and slowly left you in a sea of distortion. Or call the perfect reminder of Waterloo’s greatness as you stumbled out of Fred’s. Either way, call it amazing.
