Bright Eyes; Saturday, January 29; 9:30 Club
Touring in support of its twin January releases, Bright Eyes and its indie wunderkind frontman Conor Oberst sold out the 9:30 Club last weekend.
The first opener was Omaha-based Tilly & The Wall, a peppy quartet featured on Oberst’s Team Love label. Their unique brand of pop was a great opener; their only percussion comes from a trash can and a tap dancer who keeps the beat with her feet. Most of the songs were off their aptly titled debut album Wild Like Children, but many fans were delighted to hear some excellent new material.
The second opener was CocoRosie, consisting of the Parisian ex-pat sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady. Their music has been described as “indie-folk-tronic” and their avant-garde style clashed with both the Tilly & The Wall’s poppiness and Bright Eyes’ intensity. The sisters’ chipmunk-like voices were interesting, but they played in near-darkness in front of a pretentious video of bizarre sexual drawings. The only highlight was their accompanying French rapper, who freestyled impressively.
After CocoRosie’s train wreck of a set, Bright Eyes’ performance seemed especially strong. Oberst is renowned for his on-stage intensity, and at this show he lived up to his reputation. Even the first-time listener accompanying me was impressed and moved by his inspiring lyrics. He roughly followed the order of his new album, I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning, opening with “At The Bottom Of Everything,” a powerful version of “First Day Of My Life” and the alt-country gem “Another Travelin’ Song”.
Oberst’s propensity for shouting his politics is equally renowned, and given D.C.’s overwhelming blueness, the emotional high point of the night was “When The President Talks To God,” his passionate, cathartic anti-Bush rant. Oberst was alone on the stage under a spotlight, furiously strumming his guitar and whipping the left-leaning crowd into a political frenzy.
The most impressive part of the act was “Road To Joy,” Oberst’s spectacularly (and drunkenly) performed encore. Oberst’s voice reached its pinnacle as he screamed about sex, drugs and politics. The last 45 seconds of the concert was a loud, violent, improvised and totally satisfying classic-Oberst meltdown.
The Arcade Fire; Sunday, January 30; 9:30 Club
The Arcade Fire came to town on Sunday, and they brought the family. You could tell it was a good show when two superfluous band members donned motorcycle helmets and scaled speakers with drumsticks, banging wildly on walls, amps and each other, and this was only the second number. Filling the stage at the 9:30 Club with brothers, wives and a string section, the band showed off an ensemble nearly on par with the Polyphonic Spree’s gargantuan choir, with everyone on stage joining in the singing duties.
The Canadian band, led by American ?migr? Win Butler, was the indie darling of 2004, winning critical accolades for its debut album, Funeral. The band’s standard formula rests on the use of a complex post-rock sound that combines layered violins, guitars and drums with compelling vocals and strong lyrics.
On stage, the band takes advantage of the theatrical possibilities a live show accords. Alongside the aforementioned helmet antics, band members mimed proposals, deaths and arguments. Occasionally these performances fell flat, such as Regine Chassagne’s melodramatic interpretive dance as she sang “Haiti.”
The set started and ended strong, bracketed by powerful renditions of the band’s “Neighborhood” cycle, four up-tempo songs that feature Butler’s anguished vocals ringing out over hammering guitars. In the middle of the show, the band performed two songs from their first, self-titled EP and two new songs. None were as strong or original as their work on Funeral, but attempting their weaker material shows artistic integrity, or at least boredom from playing fan favorites.
The finale of the show featured the show’s most memorable moment. As the band finished an extended rendition of “In the Backseat,” they unplugged their instruments and marched, singing and playing all the while, down through the crowd and up onto the balcony before exiting for the night. Despite the mid-set sag, this ending and the pure energy of the band validates their reputation as both a great live act and one of the most promising indie rock bands of this decade.
