popwreckoning

The first time I saw the Morning Benders was at Neumo’s as the opening band for We Are Scientists, July 9 of 2008. I went to that exact same venue this week at the first headlining gig I’ve seen them play.

It was a short set. I would have wished to see more songs, and at least one more during the encore, but it was nice seeing the Morning Benders with a room full of other people who were there for them and not for another band. It was awesome. And I love them a lot.

When I got to Neumo’s it was basically deserted, and oddly enough I was the only photographer. So that was different. Granted, it was a Monday night.

It took until about halfway through Twin Sister’s set for the venue to fill up respectably, so the floor looked incredibly sad during Cults. People stood with a five feet empty zone between them and the stage. Oh well, more room for me to get good photos, right?

Starting out the show was New York’s own Cults with their charming retro pop. They put on a great show, with their easy, breezy (pardon my borrowed phrase) New York indie pop. As the quintet graced the stage, it was evident that all band members had the same haircut – all the guys plucking their instruments and the girl lead singer. Chances are – if you don’t live near these guys, you won’t see them play live for a while unless you catch them on this tour.

Seriously, with a name like Cults, it’s virtually impossible to sort through all the Google entries about crazy religions before you get to their sparse Bandcamp page. They don’t even have a MySpace page, but their songs (“Go Outside,” for example) are so catchy and sunny that it’s worth the digging.

Once Cults’ 25-or-so minute set was over, the PA system started playing some of the familiar hits Neumo’s plays. Local indie, obscure classics, but one in particular stood out to me. I was standing there singing along to these lyrics that I knew, but hadn’t ever heard.

“I the midnight moonlight I, be walking a long and lonely mile. And every time I do, I keep seeing this picture of you…”

Why the heck do I know this song?

“…Here comes my baby, here she comes now. And it comes as no surprise to me, she’s with another guy.”

Oh! It’s “Here Comes My Baby!” I’d only heard the Sons of Admirals version of the song, not the original Cat Stevens versions. That’s funny. I’ll spare trying to explain who the Sons of Admirals are, so I’m just going to link you here. They’re awesome. But I’m getting off topic.

I was standing next to this guy all night, and he told me before Twin Sister started playing that they were amazing. Oddly enough, later I found out that he follows me on Twitter. That was awkward.

But he was right about Twin Sister. They were awesome. Another girl-fronted group, Twin Sister produced this subtle wall of sound, kin to the Morning Benders, but more ethereal. For some reason their music reminded me of space and France, with the electronic sounds created on the keyboard and lead singer Andrea Estella’s velvety voice. If that makes any sense.

Twin Sister’s set was remarkably long. I’m almost positive they played about as long as the Morning Benders’ main set, but I didn’t mind.

By this point, during the second intermission, Neumo’s had filled up to a normal crowd, well for a Monday night. But then that crowd – me being a part of it – got impatient. It took until after 11 until the guys started playing. For about fifteen minutes before their set, keyboardist John Chu and drummer Julian Harmon had been meandering around the stage helping set up the equipment, which seemed to be causing them some grief.

But finally at ten after 11, John started the beginning strings loop to “Excuses;” but the first song on their actual set list was “Promises,” both off Big Echo, their phenomenal second album.

I’m interjecting on myself for a sec. If Big Echo doesn’t get on at least a few “best of 2010” lists, I will punch someone. This album is so underrated it’s ridiculous. Big Echo – top ten albums of 2010 – do it critics – now.

Interjection over.

Most of the set list was – in fact – from Big Echo, but there were a couple times where Chris wanted to change it up a bit.

“Do you guys want to see me dance? I want to see you dance,” he said. “This is a song off our first record,” and even before Chris could say the title, this really excited chick standing up front was like, “WAITING FOR THE WAR!”

So we danced. And it was lovely, because even though Big Echo is so amazing, it’s not as energetic as Talking Through Tin Cans was.

About halfway through the set, Chris took a moment to thank Cults and Twin Sister for coming on tour with them, and to plug their merch.

“We have tee shirts for sale over there, and our album Big Echo, if you don’t have it already,” he said, and then glanced right down at me, “You were at our show last time, so I know you have the album already.” And suddenly I was a 15-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Chris remembered me. Now THAT was cool. It hasn’t happened to me since… well since August, but that’s when I saw We Are Scientists three times in two weeks and followed them 800 miles down the coast to San Francisco. So it’s reasonable that they’d remember me. But I haven’t seen the Morning Benders since May when they opened for Broken Bells. Pardon my gushing. I was just so gosh darn excited, gosh darnit.

Anyway, as the sadly short set list was winding down, we got “Stitches,” “All Day Day Light” and “Excuses.”

The first of which, “Stitches” gave me goose bumps. Chris’ longing crooning matched with the most epic crescendo I’ve heard in a long time led up to this awesome drawn out outro, which was easily half the length of the whole song. “Stitches” is melancholy, sexy, and furious at the same time, and definitely one of those songs that is completely different listening to it on record than seeing it live. I highly recommend the latter, as well as the former.

Then we got the summery “All Day Day Light,” for which the band recently came out with a video, one that’s equally as charming as the song. It was a perfect upbeat before the final song of the normal set, “Excuses.”

I have to say something about the song “Excuses.” I decided after hearing it at least a dozen times that it was going to be my first dance song at my wedding. And if a man out there agrees with me, then it’s meant to be. Hands down. Having the whole room sing a long to the “la da das” was so magical on this particular Monday that I almost want to snatch the maraca out of Chris’s hand as he sauntered across the stage.

“Last time we were here Seattle had the best singers on the tour, so I hope you guys live up to it,” Chris said, after he requested the sing-along. Last time? Last time I strictly remember no one around me was singing a long. I’d hope that we out-sang ourselves.

It was just after midnight, and we all knew it was coming – the end of the set. It saddened me to know that it was almost over, but we did get to choose which song we were going to hear during the encore.

“We’ve got a cover and a new song. Which do you wanna hear?” Chris asked. It was nearly impossible to choose, as the cover was Fleetwoot Mac’s “Dreams,” and new songs are always pleasant, so many people shouted “both,” including the guy who follows me on Twitter.

The boys didn’t give in to our plea of both songs, but their cover of “Dreams” was quite fantastic and refreshing. I hadn’t heard that song in years, at least my parents were still listening to CDs regularly.

Even though we didn’t get more than 13 or so songs (the set list was written on a paper plate, and many things were redacted and rewritten), the show was everything I wanted it to be, and I miss the Morning Benders already.

For even more photos from the show, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157625071701689/

As I’m nearing my 21^st birthday, the ever-present anxiety surrounding who’s playing all ages shows has gone out the door. However, the last all-ages show I will see as a 20-year-old human being (well, except for Sasquatch this weekend) turned out to be Broken Bells and The Morning Benders at the Showbox this week.

This is the first time I’ve seen a band since…February… that I was almost more excited to see the opening band than the actual headliners. Nothing against Broken Bells – their debut album is fantastic, but having seen The Morning Benders two times prior, first with We Are Scientists in 2008 and then with Grizzly Bear last October, I was really looking forward to seeing them for a third time.

The Showbox was packed. Packed tight light a space bag, but instead of blankets and pillows, it was full of people. Starting at about 9, the Berkeley natives stepped out on stage – Chris Chu on lead vocals, Tim Orr on bass, John Chu on guitar and keyboards, and Julian Harmon on drums. The one thing that I always loved about seeing these guys live is how humble they are. Each time they thank the headliners multiple times and thank the crowd for “coming early to see us.” I may have said this before, but I didn’t go early, I went on time! It was also nice to see that Chris’ brother John, who joined the band last year, was sporting the same Telecaster that Chris used two years ago, with the familiar “Britney Spears” label, even if it was quasi-covered in duct tape.

They started with “Stitches,” an achingly beautiful ballad that builds to an ending no less than epic with the lyric “you don’t know me by name” repeated over and over; and it was also my second-favorite song off their phenomenal second album Big Echo. The guys were much more at ease on stage than when I saw them in October, when prior to the show someone broke into their van and stole a bunch of their equipment. At this gig, they were fully equipped with not only their instruments, but so many of the great songs off Big Echo, including the slower “Wet Cement” and “Mason Jar,” along with more upbeat tracks like “Promises,” “All Day All Night” and the short ditty “Cold War (Nice Clean Fight).”

Throughout their performance I glanced around where I was standing, and I was the only person singing along to virtually every song. No, really. Thankfully they closed with “Excuses,” as people had been shouting it various times up until then, so people had to sing along. Chris put down his guitar and grabbed the mic off the stand, and came to find that it was going to cut in and out, so he scrapped his mic and grabbed John’s from atop his keyboard. In the absence of the strings, John played the chords on his keyboard while Chris meandered around the stage from the right side to the left, singing the lovely song directly to the audience. I swear, when I heard “Excuses” for the first time, I thought I’m playing this song at my wedding, whenever it may be. It’s that adorable, but somehow not saccharine. At this point I urged everyone around me to sing along to the “da dum, da dum, la da da dum,” and I finally wasn’t the only one joining in the song.

After a half-hour intermission, Broken Bells, led by James Mercer, stepped out on stage to an ecstatic crowd. I mean, the crowd had to be ecstatic – the show sold out in a matter of days when the tickets went on sale a couple of months ago. Before jumping right into “Vaporize,” James Mercer declared to the audience, “you’re too good to me, Seattle.” To tell you the truth, we’re pretty good to most people.

Broken Bells played through the light and fun songs off their self-titled debut, as well as a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ “Crimson & Clover” that was pretty ace. I’d have to say that their set wasn’t quite as dynamic as the Morning Benders, but it was far from boring. I like Broken Bells music because you can dance to it, but it’s so slow that it turns into a slow dance and it’s not so fast that you get tired when you’re dancing for almost an hour.

I especially liked when Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse) got up from the drums and sat at the keyboard in the middle of the stage, which was otherwise vacant without Burton playing. I never really knew how multi-talented he is. Burton surely has an impressive resume.

The only thing that spoiled my night was the fact that halfway through Broken Bells’ set this guy who was obviously high on something (something that apparently makes you a total and complete butthead) came and stood right next to me and started thrusting himself around obnoxiously like he was in a mosh pit. Okay, so Broken Bells isn’t mellow, but they aren’t necessarily mosh-able. He even suggested at one point while he was filming the show with his phone that he was going to crowd surf, before the guy standing behind him told him off. Honestly if that guy had crowd-surfed, I would have let him drop. I know personal space technically goes out the window when you’re at a show, but when no one else around you is gnashing against one another, you should take a hint that you need to chill.

Trying to ignore the annoying dude standing next to me, I joined in the crowd’s massive sing-along to “Crimson & Clover,” which would have been a nice surprise if I hadn’t taken a picture of the set list before Broken Bells came onstage. It was still quite nice, though.

After their first “last” song, Mercer and Burton played a charming version of “Insane Lullaby,” from Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s 2009 album Dark Night of the Soul. You don’t normally expect two covers in one show, and this was pretty cool. It was just Mercer on acoustic guitar and Burton on keyboards, and it worked really well. They finished out the night with my favorite song from the album, “October,” which instantly made the crowd sway to-and-fro to the easy beat, and the dude standing next to me finally calmed down.

Broken Bells Set List:

1. Vaporize
2. Sailing to Nowhere
3. Trap Doors
4. Citizen
5. High Road
6. Your Head is On Fire
7. The Ghost Inside
8. Crimson & Clover
9. Mongrel Heart
10. The Mall and the Misery

Encore

1. Insane Lullaby
2. Hold On
3. October

I arrived at the Moore Theatre last night just in time to get my Will Call tickets right when the doors opened, thankfully – since it was one of the rainiest days of the year in Seattle, which is saying a lot. I stood out in the lobby for a bit before they opened the doors for us to find our seats.

I – along with a few other people – trickled into the old theater through the corridors myself in the box seats, the others spread around within the theater. A few guys came and sat in the box a few rows behind me, discussing whether or not to get drunk.

“We can’t drink beer down here? Let’s go mingle. Let’s go drink beer,” the first guy proposed.

“Okay, dude. Let’s go drink beer,” the second guy responded.

By that point, the historic Moore Theatre was pretty empty. Actually, most of the people didn’t arrive until halfway through the openers, the Morning Benders from San Francisco.

Personally, they were a big part of the reason why I went to the gig. I saw them in July of 2008 as openers for my favorite band We Are Scientists, and from then on I wished to see them again.

Unfortunately, when they came back to Seattle this October, someone decided to break into their van some time before the show and steal some of their equipment, among other random things. But had I not known that, I wouldn’t have thought otherwise, because they were totally at ease on stage. Kicking it off with a low-key version of “Damnit Anna,” one of the peppier songs from their debut Talking Through Tin Cans, they were just the right compliment for Grizzly Bear – the headliners. But the rest of the songs were new ones from their upcoming release, Big Echo, which doesn’t yet have an official release date. I caught a few of the titles of the new songs, and my favorites were “Hand Me Downs,” an upbeat song more reminiscent of Talking Through Tin Cans, and “Stitches,” a slow, heavy ballad. “Stitches” actually kind of mesmerized me. And sitting by myself in the box at that point, I could just bask in the sound and listen. It was nice.

The Morning Benders’ sound was more mature than the last record, which makes me excited to hear all of Big Echo. But even though their new stuff sounded more mature, the Morning Benders still had the same charm they had last time I saw them. All of their guitars may not have been labeled “Britney Spears,” but drummer Julian Harmon had the familiar sticker on his snare. Not sure what it means. I’ll have to figure that out one day, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

The Morning Benders were very gracious openers, as front man Chris Chu repeatedly thanked Grizzly Bear for bringing them on this leg of the tour, which gave everyone a nice impression of the band. But I don’t think they got the love they deserved because like I said earlier, most of the people got to the venue late, just in time to see Grizzly Bear. At the end, Chu thanked the crowd “for coming early to see us.” That’s not early, that’s on time. Everyone else got there late.

But they did come to see an amazing show. Grizzly Bear was amazing.

Normally I don’t like sitting in the theater at gigs, but in this case, the Moore was the perfect venue for it – large, but not too large so it’s still intimate. And the haunting vocals from Daniel Rossen, Ed Droste, Chris Taylor and Chris Bear worked perfectly with everyone seated. It’s not the kind of music you dance to, more like the kind you just listen to.

And that’s all I had to do – listen.

And Grizzly Bear surely brought in the crowd. The guy sitting next to me had heard of them just that day, and lived in Pullman. He drove four hours to see them. Wow.

I’ve never seen a more dynamic group of musicians. First hearing them on Veckatimest a couple months ago, I would have never guessed they could pull off all the layers of sound they achieved on the record the same way live. But they did. Droste would switch from keyboard to guitar to harpsichord, and Rossen switched from keyboards to guitar. But Taylor was the one that stood out to me in his multiple instrumentalist skills. From bass to flute to clarinet and bass clarinet, and another odd instrument that I couldn’t name if I ever tried. It just added an eerie ringing sound to several of the songs.

Speaking of the songs, Grizzly Bear played a nice mixture of songs from Veckatimest and 2006’s Yellow House, which lent itself to the range of sounds they created on stage. Starting off the show with “Southern Point,” it was just the right amount of energy to get people excited. Not only did they sound great, but also there were Mason jar lights set up all along the stage hung from stands, creating a wave of lights to go along with the psychedelic indie rock.

Some of my favorite tunes of the night were “Fine for Now,” “Little Brother,” and “Lullabye.” But what got the crowd going most was “Two Weeks,” Grizzly Bear’s biggest hit yet. Besides, it’s the easiest to sing along to. But the biggest song of the night, and the one that really gave me goosebumps with all the slow buildup, Taylor’s constant switching of instruments, and soaring harmonies from Droste and Rossen was “I Live With You.” I could see people all around the theater bobbing their heads to the music that filled the extremely tall Moore.

Droste actually said towards the end of the night, “Are you guys getting vertigo up there? I was up there earlier, and it’s weird.” The second balcony is quite tall, and most of the time requires binoculars, but it sounds just as good because of the acoustics of the theater. From where I was sitting in the box on the main floor, the heaviness of the bass actually made my glasses shudder and eyes blur for a second.

After the “last song,” everyone got on their feet to applaud for the encore, except a select few that actually thought it was the end of the show. But a couple minutes of applause later, the foursome walked back out on stage for one last song, “He Hit Me,” from the Friend EP. It was a perfect way to end the show, finishing at a little before 11 p.m.

Now all I had to do was wait for my ride to get there. But while I waited, I stood outside the venue for a bit and mingled with the other fans waiting to meet the band. I still have yet to do that, as I have an odd fear of meeting bands. Not sure why, but I really need to get over that.

Maybe next time.

Grizzly Bear: website | myspace