The three little pigs were shit contractors!
Shan and I discovered this on Monday night. We went to downtown Phoenix to catch The Clientele play to a small, and very polite crowd at Modified Arts. The back wall of the stage area at Modified features the lone remaining ruin from the homes that the three little pigs each constructed to keep the Big Bad Wolf at bay. We all know what happened to the first two buildings. The third house which was made of brick as you should recall, was eventually destroyed. All except for this portion of wall that now calls Modified Arts its home. The craftsmanship isn't very good. The pattern in which the bricks were laid is surely a clear indication of why the home eventually succumbed to the mighty lungs of said wolf.
As for the concert, we were treated to some interesting opening bands. Don't ask me who went on first, because I didn't understand them when they introduced themselves. The sound wasn't very clear for most of the night. But the seven piece band featured two singers, one male hippy, and one female who looked like she beat up a roadside diner waitress in Idaho for her outfit. It had greasy spoon written all over it. But her long boots made up for the frayed red threads at the base of the dress. This band also had a bassoon and oboe player, which really added a wonderful dimension to the harmony of the singers' vocals. I thought they were brilliant for that aspect of their sound.
Beach House played next. They were a mess, but something inherently good came from their performance to cause me to purchase their eponymous debut album from iTunes. They used a four track on some tracks for percussion, but mostly their drum tracks were awful. If they opted for a real flesh & blood drummer, they would have been much better. Their singer was attractive in a Hope Sandoval/Laurie Partridge/Margo Timmins crossbreed kind of way. Everything was "iffic", like reverb-a-riffic, feedback-a-riffic, etc. I likened their sound to an embryonic Stereolab, had it been just Laetitia and Tim, and a juvenile understanding of musical technology. I loved their use of the Moog. I'm a sucker for that instrument, hence my investment. Beach House sound better in the studio than on stage, at least that wads the case on Monday night in the desert.
The Clientele finally hit the stage at 10:20 or so. They opened with "Since K Got Over Me" from their 2005 cd, STRANGE GEOMETRY. As soon as humble singer Alasdair MacLean began tuning his guitar, it was obvious what that it would be the opening number. They played a lot from their brand new album GOD SAVE THE CLIENTELE. The show featured "Here Comes The Phantom", "I Hope I Know You", "Isn’t Life Strange?", "From Brighton Beach To Santa Monica", "These Days Nothing But Sunshine", "Somebody Changed", "No Dreams Last Night", "The Garden At Night", "Dreams Of Leaving", and a ripping take on their huge up-tempo number "Bookshop Casanova". Other tunes were featured from STRANGE GEOMETRY, "Impossible" off the ARIADNE ep, THE VIOLET HOUR, and a lovely version of Shannon's favorite, "We Could Walk Together" from their 2000 cd SUBURBAN LIGHT.
Alasdair was well supported by his mates Mark Keen on drums, James Hornsey on bass and Mel Draisey on violin, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion. Mel is new to the band, and she was heavily involved with the recording of their new album. She doesn't look a day over 17, and I bet all the young hipsters in the crowd were dripping on themselves by her presence. She fluffed a note during the show, and when I heard it, I looked her way, and she was laughing at herself. That's one of the great things about live music. Even when a band is not perfect, the show is still pretty memorable.
A great show by the Clientele. May they continue to sonically sparkle and spellbind for many years to come!
As for the concert, we were treated to some interesting opening bands. Don't ask me who went on first, because I didn't understand them when they introduced themselves. The sound wasn't very clear for most of the night. But the seven piece band featured two singers, one male hippy, and one female who looked like she beat up a roadside diner waitress in Idaho for her outfit. It had greasy spoon written all over it. But her long boots made up for the frayed red threads at the base of the dress. This band also had a bassoon and oboe player, which really added a wonderful dimension to the harmony of the singers' vocals. I thought they were brilliant for that aspect of their sound.
Beach House played next. They were a mess, but something inherently good came from their performance to cause me to purchase their eponymous debut album from iTunes. They used a four track on some tracks for percussion, but mostly their drum tracks were awful. If they opted for a real flesh & blood drummer, they would have been much better. Their singer was attractive in a Hope Sandoval/Laurie Partridge/Margo Timmins crossbreed kind of way. Everything was "iffic", like reverb-a-riffic, feedback-a-riffic, etc. I likened their sound to an embryonic Stereolab, had it been just Laetitia and Tim, and a juvenile understanding of musical technology. I loved their use of the Moog. I'm a sucker for that instrument, hence my investment. Beach House sound better in the studio than on stage, at least that wads the case on Monday night in the desert.
The Clientele finally hit the stage at 10:20 or so. They opened with "Since K Got Over Me" from their 2005 cd, STRANGE GEOMETRY. As soon as humble singer Alasdair MacLean began tuning his guitar, it was obvious what that it would be the opening number. They played a lot from their brand new album GOD SAVE THE CLIENTELE. The show featured "Here Comes The Phantom", "I Hope I Know You", "Isn’t Life Strange?", "From Brighton Beach To Santa Monica", "These Days Nothing But Sunshine", "Somebody Changed", "No Dreams Last Night", "The Garden At Night", "Dreams Of Leaving", and a ripping take on their huge up-tempo number "Bookshop Casanova". Other tunes were featured from STRANGE GEOMETRY, "Impossible" off the ARIADNE ep, THE VIOLET HOUR, and a lovely version of Shannon's favorite, "We Could Walk Together" from their 2000 cd SUBURBAN LIGHT.
Alasdair was well supported by his mates Mark Keen on drums, James Hornsey on bass and Mel Draisey on violin, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion. Mel is new to the band, and she was heavily involved with the recording of their new album. She doesn't look a day over 17, and I bet all the young hipsters in the crowd were dripping on themselves by her presence. She fluffed a note during the show, and when I heard it, I looked her way, and she was laughing at herself. That's one of the great things about live music. Even when a band is not perfect, the show is still pretty memorable.
A great show by the Clientele. May they continue to sonically sparkle and spellbind for many years to come!