By: Andrea Myers
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The TV Sound at the Turf Club - Photo by David de Young (click here for full gallery)
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I knew it had been too long since my last visit the moment I walked in the door of the Turf Club, and the place looks great. The bar has been redesigned and pushed back to relieve the tightly packed hallway of people that I was used to confronting upon entrance. They even added some shiny new flat screen televisions, a bar trend that is becoming increasingly popular these days.
I went to the show with the sole objective of seeing White Light Riot – a band that has earned a lot of local press lately and some heavy rotation in my personal music catalog – and was subsequently blown away by opening band The TV Sound.
It took a few songs for The TV Sound to really grow on me, with their heavily 80’s-inspired pop rock. The first couple of tunes they played could have been straight out of a John Hughes movie, perhaps for the scene where Molly Ringwald triumphantly arrives at her high school prom in her handmade asymmetric pink dress, or maybe the scene where Judd Nelson throws his fist in the air and freezes for the rolling of credits.
As they got further into their set, however, they traversed into more of their own unique brand of rock. The band puts out a nice combination of sounds, with hints of low-fi synthesizer beats, a funk bass line, splashy drums and Steve Hutton’s soaring, dynamic voice. At times they reminded me of early Incubus, with possible strains of Oleander; at others they embodied the sunny, funky spirit of The Time.
I really enjoyed a song called “All of Us,” which features tight, finely-crafted guitar riffs by Brandon Dalida, and Max Mileski playing a slapping, precise bass part. Hutton’s melodies are immediately infectious, his voice ascending and falling through the ranges with ease.
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White Light Riot at the Turf - Click here for full gallery (Photo by David de Young)
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The talent of The TV Sound paved the way for White Light Riot, an up-and-coming act that just released their first CD, The Dark is Light Enough in October 2005. I was unsure of what to expect from their live performance. I was really impressed by the new disc and the work done by producer Erik Appelwick, and I hoped it would translate well to the stage. After the
flurry of their 45 minute set, however, White Light Riot's live execution went far above and beyond my expectations.
The band started off with a few “new” songs that didn’t make the cut on their debut album, immediately putting out a wall of sound and confronting the audience with their sweet indie-pop. The band looks innocent enough, dressed in matching relaxed-fit jeans, with giant black “X” marks scrawled on guitarist Joe Christenson and bassist Dan Larsen’s hands to warn the bartender that they are underage. But the sound they put out is surprisingly mature and fine-tuned, with Mike Schwandt’s vocals coming out clean and crisp, and the band providing a tight backing and plenty of positive energy. Schwandt’s brother Mark holds the reigns with his aggressive drumming, while Christenson and Larsen follow suit with peppy power chords and fine-tuned bass guitar part.
The last half of the set consisted of songs off of their new EP, including their best track yet “Out of Sight,” and an excellent cover of The Cure’s “Fascination Street.” While their sound almost begs to be compared with other big-name acts such as the Killers or Franz Ferdinand, it seems that White Light Riot has truly crafted their own sound, borrowing from many of the influences and blending with their own creative impulses.
If there were ever any doubts about the potential success of White Light Riot, it seems that their set at the Turf Club proved that their plane has taxied out onto the runway and is poised to take off on a great flight.
As some of the audience left at this point or migrated downstairs to the old Clown Lounge for cocktails and conversation, Action Vs. Action closed out the evening upstairs. The band offered up a set of punch, retro-inspired tunes that featured 80's melodica and some dangerously fast tempos. (The speed might explain why the bass player was wearing a racing helmet, or was that because the front man was wielding something that looked like a big long billy club?) Despite the departure of much of the crowd, Action vs. Action performed an energetic set to a small group of dedicated followers.
Related links:
White Light Riot set list:
Stars
Overcast
The Order
In Company of Boxes
Caffeine and Pills
Illusions
Fascination Street (The Cure)
Bitter Beginning
Out of Sight
Tuning Out
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: The TV Sound, White Light Riot
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