By: Pat O'Brien
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British Sea Power - Photo by David de Young
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Friday at the Triple Rock the crowd was treated to a Rock Show. You know, the kind of shows that stick with you, the ones you tell your friends about and might talk about for months, even years afterward. Sure, it’s only been on the books now for a few days as of this writing, but it may go down as one of the best the Triple Rock has ever seen.
The show started with local up-and-comers One for the Team. Fronted by Afternoon Records founder Ian Anderson, they come off like Death Cab for Cutie with the synth turned up and with slightly more abrasive guitar riffs—not anything super-challenging, but exceptionally enjoyable, and they are one of those bands that fit perfectly into any slot on a bill. They can get the crowd going, take them home or anything in between. They are in the midst of recording right now. When I spoke to Anderson and company briefly before the set, they were a bit nervous— Anderson and keyboardist/vocalist Grace Fiddler said they hadn’t played together as a band in quite some time (they are recording the instruments one by one for forthcoming album), but there were no cracks, no flubs, everything was spot on, if only a bit shorter than expected.
Then four guys who looked like record-store clerks hit the stage in all white tracksuits. They called themselves Colourmusic and they promptly won nearly the entire crowd over within the span on their first song. They touted their sound as “Oklahoma Sex Rock,” whatever that might mean, but it played like McLusky covering Clinic (or is that the other way around?) with just a dash of The Flaming Lips’ anarchic glee (more on that in a minute) they rumbled through their set and the crowd was absolutely energized. There were several weird, stilted, tongue-in-cheek voiceovers referencing bassist Roy G. Biv’s particular playing style that aired over the PA. One made a direct reference to Metallica that foreshadowed Colourmusic’s final song, which was a scorching, oddly endearing (and, it should be noted, spot-on) cover of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” from Metallica’s 1984 album, Ride The Lightning. It’s funny to see a crowd of hipsters sing-along to old school metal but it seemed the whole crowd knew every word and sung right along, banging their heads the whole time. Colourmusic had a roomful of new fans.
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British Sea Power - Photo by David de Young
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British Sea Power started to blow up in 2003 with the powerful, somewhat difficult The Decline of British Sea Power. They were brash and arrogant (the words “British Sea Power’s Classic” were incorporated into the cover art), but when their second album, Open Season, was released, it was the very definition of a sophomore slump. It was uninspired and mostly just boring. They lost fans (or they at least stepped back a bit) and Open Season mostly tanked on U.S. shores. BSP are back in fine form, however, with the stunning Do You Like Rock Music? and the long (80-plus minutes) set, mostly culled from DYLRM?,lived up to the hype that their first album promised.
They seem to have turned down the Pixies influence, which bordered on wholesale rip-off at turns on their debut, but the Echo & The Bunnymen comparison is still more than valid. BSP have written an album of pure, unadulterated straight-up rock that doesn’t invite as many comparisons to specific influences as much as it simply references everything great about music since The Beatles. The set was anthemic and fairly pulsed, and at one point, toward the end, guitarist Martin Noble climbed atop the shoulders of a man in the crowd and continued playing from his perch for several minutes. This was nothing, however, though the crowd didn’t know that just yet.
During the last 15 minutes, the show entered onto the list of the best shows I have ever seen. As BSP started in with the second to last song during the encore, “Carrion,” Colourmusic slowly stepped back out from backstage one by one. As British Sea Power started into their final song, the train came off the rails. Rolls of crepe paper came flying into the crowd and just kept coming (there were easily 50 of them, probably more), courtesy of Colourmusic. All of the band members commandeered instruments and started playing, bashing and assaulting them. One of them crawled atop a six-foot-tall amp and threw more rolls of crepe paper into the crowd. Martin Noble crowd-surfed from the stage all the way back to the bar area, then somersaulted his way back to the stage. Colourmusic ran out on to the floor with pieces of their drum kit, marching through the crowd, bashing them as hard as they could, yelping and semi-singing. Noble left the stage again, this time to try to climb the wall that borders the backstage area (he didn’t succeed—he was stopped by a Triple Rock staff member) and the set came to a slow, feedback-infused end.
This was what all rock shows could be, but luckily they don’t all unfold like this way—when things like this happen you feel lucky to have been there. Maybe this happens at every stop along the way for the bands, but one thing was certain: British Sea Power left everyone present feeling like the slump was over and that they are in it for the long haul.
Location Info:
Triple Rock Social Club
Artist Info: British Sea Power, Colourmusic, One For The Team
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