Decent Days and Nights
Last Thursday's SIFF Face the Music rock party at Neumo's ran like a well-oiled machine, far ahead of schedule, even with eleven acts on the bill. The next day? Two acts, forty minutes late. It's good to have things back to normal.
Openers the French Kicks played their piano-heavy blazer rock with aplomb. They're competent enough and had the crowd bopping around, but they're not spectacular. They're certainly no Futureheads. We've seen several of the Sunderland quartet's shows, and on every occasion, it seems as if the band is having a really good time. That they enjoy each other's company, they enjoy making music, and they enjoy playing live---a welcome change of pace from all the bands who play as if they'd rather be anywhere else but onstage.
Here to promote their new (solid, but not as downright fun as their first) album, News and Tributes, the Futureheads gave a performance in line with what we'd come to expect from the group: high energy and lots of vocals. In fact, every member of the band is equipped with a microphone, allowing for swooping four-part harmonies (as in "A to B") or segments of songs where everyone is simultaneously singing different lines ("The City is Here for You to Use"). Songs that Seattlest tends to skip over on the album ("He Knows," "Man Ray") were much improved live, where they transformed into full crowd sing-alongs. As always, the best part of the set was when the band performed their cover of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love," in which one half of the crowd sings guitarist's Ross's part, and the other half sings bassist's Jaff's vocals (an experience well-described by Pitchfork here).
The band was in high spirits, easily explained by it being early on in their U.S. tour, but we're betting even months from now, they'd bring the same level of energy and fun to their performance. They made comments about each other's mommas, they pondered the possibility of having regenerative genitals, and they good-humoredly chided a drunk fan who kept referring to lead singer Barry as "Danny." We love these boys, and if you missed this show, never fear. If they tour for this album like the did the last one, they'll come through town another three or four times over the next year and a half. There's more than enough sing-alongs to go around.
