HOCKEY, METRIC, THE BRAVERY, and SPOON Review and Photos

The Night The Buzz Stole Christmas Show

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Midland Theatre, KCMO

Thursday night was wrought with violence. First, I got slapped in the face by the bitter winds of Kansas City, then I got a pleasant buzz knocked into me thanks to a couple of carefully timed mini shots consumed sub-rosa. Soon after, I got my face melted off by music, and lastly I was slammed with an incredibly satisfying night of live performance.

I came to hear Metric and Spoon, but was pleasantly surprised by the opening band, Hockey, who hails from Portland, Oregon. These guys reminded me a lot of The Walkmen. My first question was, “are these guys even allowed in the venue?” These four darlings from the NorthWest were as baby faced as they come. However, their dancey-fresh rock sound and obvious musical skill more than compensated for the lack of wear and tear on their fresh visages. My second question was “Why isn’t anyone dancing?”  This was Hockey’s first time in Kansas City, and I hope it was as good for them as it was for me.

I thought the Midland Theatre gods were going to make me sweat it out a while to hear Metric, but to my surprise they were next. I hesitate using hyperbolic statements, such as “Metric melted my face off!” but they did. So: Metric melted my face off! (Told ya’) The energy from the band and especially from front woman Emily Haines was electric. For me it is such a rush to hear the songs I rage to in my car or bedroom, live, and then performed with equal, if not intensified power and energy.  The band opened their set with Twilight Galaxy, off of their latest album, Fantasies. There is something about that synth and the stark drums that is absolutely intoxicating, then the song breaks with the chorus “I’m all right c’mon baby, I’ve seen all the demons that you’ve got. If you’re not all right now, c’mon baby, I’ll pick you up, take you where you want.”

Haines was as tender as she was fierce, clad in leather jacket and sparkling gold mini-dress. She  danced around and jumped in gold heels, later peeled off her jacket, and wailed on the guitar. And somehow her hair was blowing majestically in the air the whole time! The only plausible explanation is that those stone angels perched on the walls of The Midland were responsible for such an effect. The band seemed happy to be performing, and happy to play crowd favorites such as, Help I’m Alive, Gimmie Sympathy, as well as Dead Disco from their 2003 album Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

Somewhere in between all of this goodness, a puka shell-clad so-and-so and his first date, wedged his way in front of my friends and me. To anyone reading, I assume you know better, but this is always a party foul. He planted himself where there was no room, directly in front of my face, completely hindering my vision as well as raising my blood-pressure. He later half-heartedly tried to diffuse his rudeness by complimenting me on my hair, but I didn’t fall for it. However, Metric was just so full of life and electricity it was hard to be pissy for long, and the joke would have only been on me, so I kept on dancing and stayed in the middle of the moment. The second to last song was Stadium Love, and really I think everyone there left in love with Metric (even the Puka Party Foul) if they hadn’t fallen already.

After Metric’s performance, a little quintet from New York City, called The Bravery, hit the Midland Theatre stage. The boys started the night out with a new song called“I Have Seen The Future” from their new album Stir The Blood .  Frontman Sam Endicott, dedicated the following song, Time Won’t Let Me Go, to Pony Boy and Patrick Swayze of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 cult-classic The Outsiders, of which the song references. Overall, The Bravery gave a tight and catchy performance with their signature electronic-rock sound. They were a satisfactory warm up to Spoon, but I was confused as to the order of the night’s line up. Why weren’t they before Metric?  For the most part, The Bravery held my attention but came across as slightly pre-packaged and a smidge disingenuous. But ya know, I probably would too if I was wearing a cut-off Police shirt and painted on black jeans. I forgot the touch of douchey-ness. I had payed my audience member dues, and I was ready for Spoon .

Britt Daniel and the boys came out to the stage humble and happy, starting the set out with Don’t You Evah, which sent my heart beating and my head bobbing the whole time to that signature bass line. The band is clean and the sound is crisp. I feel like they could perform in their sleep, while keeping everyone else awake. Britt was grinning from ear to the ear the majority of the set. He was wearing slim black pants, and a dark blue collared shirt with a black v-neck sweater on top. He strikes me as the type of boy you want to bring home to mom…. or just to yourself. Don’t Make Me A Target was next, and the guys were kind enough to indulge us with I Turn My Camera On. Everybody in the club was bumpin’ bumpin’.

Next were a couple of new songs, Written in Reverse, and Got Nuffin, off of their new album, Transference, that releases in January. At this point, everything I’d already known was again confirmed: these guys are good, I mean really good. While Spoon may not be the type of band that you turn up to 11 or go berserk to, they have something that sticks. They are musicians through and through. A live performance from them sounds like album quality. Some may resist this polished nature, which I can understand, but when it comes to Spoon I just don’t think there is any other option. They can’t help but be good, and it’s what keeps me coming back. Spoon just seems to get better with age, and that’s not something a lot of bands can claim.

I revisit Spoon albums time after time and get lost in them again and again. The music of Spoon is the backdrop to so many of my memories: Driving thru the inland empire with Andy at the beginning of our friendship while everything around me was dry and tinted yellow, sitting in San Francisco, Treasure Island while blades of grass itched my calves, dancing contentedly in a San Diego parking lot with a boy who just didn’t work out while the wind blew and Britt Daniel literally played behind us, riding my bike downtown with one headphone in, one out, while the whole of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga pounded in my ears…and the list goes on.

Eventually, I quit moving, and I just stood, in a kind of conscious daze. Britt tousled his strawberry blonde hair, and the spine of his shirt was outlined perfectly in sweat, and he grinned, exposing deep smile lines. The last song before the encore was Underdog and I sang along with one of my favorite lines,  “it can’t all be wedding cake, it can’t all be boiled away” sprouting yet another memory. They closed down the night with an obvious winner, “You’ve Got Yr Cherry Bomb”.  Spoon was gracious and I was grateful for another night of music, and bands, and the people in them, and the people who love them. After I filed out of The Midland, I was greeted by my friend who in a bizarre exchange of events had just bought a cookie monster sweatshirt off of a guys back…I was grateful for this too.