Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
Silversun Pickups, cage the elephant and an horse at hob
Photo by Autumn de Wilde
Silversun Pickups.
Capturing the spirit of the indie rock movement of the '90s that saw many formerly underground sensations enjoy mainstream chart success, Silversun Pickups has also emulated a total '90s indie grunge sound - and look - while also hitting the charts. If L.A.-based Silversun had not been so successful, the Myrtle Beach area would probably not be as lucky as to have the band stop by for a gig Oct. 9 at the House of Blues.
So to celebrate music with substance finally becoming commercially successful again, I had to to check out the show (and, well, I just wanted to see the bands). Expecting the show to be sold out, it was not even close. I'd estimate there was roughly 400-500 people there that night, which while is a comfortable crowd for seeing a show at H.O.B., is probably not a number that would guarantee us being able to ever see these bands in the Myrtle Beach area again.
The first band of the evening was An Horse, a two-piece outfit from Australia. My first thought was that they must be using a lot of overdubs. The sound was nice and thick, almost as thick as a five-piece band. Drums were nice and loud; guitar, thick and swirly and I swore I could hear some bass in there. Mason "Mase" Brazelle from WKZQ happened to be standing next to me and he swore to me that there were no overdubs at all, just the guitar and drums. If Mase is correct, then that's just impressive. Their sound was emotive, yet poppy.
The second band, which should be headlining its own tour, was Cage The Elephant. If you listen to the radio at all, you've probably heard the song "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked." The first time I heard this song I thought it was a new White Stripes track. After seeing Cage the Elephant live I think the band definitely has its own sound, however. Live, it was a stripped down punk rock sound and attitude. The singer, Matt Shultz, threw epileptic-like fits and ran around the stage all spastic like, which made for a good show. And the sound leaned more toward West Coast punkers Circle Jerks than toward garage rock-influenced bands such as Artic Monkeys and White Stripes, as CTE's radio singles would lead one to believe. Nonetheless, these guys put on a great show. During the last song Shultz jumped into the audience and climbed around for a bit before leaving the stage. They left the crowd wanting more, but still ready for some Silversun.
The curtains parted and Silversun Pickups opened with the song "Growing Old is Getting Old" from the latest disc "Swoon.'' They looked almost like a '90s grunge tribute band as singer/guitarist Brian Aubert sported a full beard and flannel; bassist Nikki Monninger resembled Smashing Pumpkins' D'arcy Wretzky; and the drummer, Christopher Guanlao, looked just like Dave Grohl during his Nirvana years. Keyboardist, Joe Lester, was the only one that didn't look like he stepped right out of 1993. They put on a no frills, straightforward rock show. Any fan of Silversun Pickups would have been happy.
However, Silversun Pickups doesn't put it all out there enough to win over any new fans live. They are like a poor man's Smashing Pumpkins with a little bit of Sonic Youth and Placebo thrown in there for good measure. Don't get me wrong. It was a great show. Musically, I love this band, but live they just don't do anything special. By comparison, Cage The Elephant is not as interesting musically, but put on a much better show. Sometimes the music that you love to listen to at home just isn't the music that is the most entertaining live. I would love to see these guys come back. Next time a good lineup like this comes back to the beach, hopefully more people will come out.