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Los Campesinos! with Parenthetical Girls @ Metro – 1/27/2012

Shelby Mongan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:05:22 +0000

Los Campesinos! at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

The first birthday I had as a resident of Chicago was celebrated with tickets to see a band that I had just started listening to at a place I had never seen before. I was hooked on the music and the venue almost instantly. Fast forward two years and I was back at the Metro in Wrigleyville to see Los Campesinos! again. The Cardiff-based seven piece band are currently touring behind their newest album, Hello Sadness. Between a solid record, the fuel from lead singer Gareth’s break up with twee darling Rebecca Taylor (from Slow Club), and a band that is known for energetic live performances, the Friday night show promised to be something special.

Parenthetical Girls (with Los Campesinos!) at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

Before LC! took the stage, I was treated to Parenthetical Girls as an opener. I had never heard of the band before that night, let alone listened to them, so I didn’t know what to expect. The band is inevitably from Portland and has been making music for about eight years. Their music was the perfect experimental indie pop appetizer to LC!, but I would have just as easly loved them as a main course. A nice touch to the set was the screen hung behind the band playing vague clips from various movies and videos. Vocalist Zac Pennington played the engaging frontman with a tendency for jaunts into the crowd. I found myself laughing along with his stage banter, a trait not necessarily required but certainly appreciated. All in all, I was quite impressed but not surprised to see a solid set from a seasoned band.

After a minor fan girl moment (in which lead singer Gareth stood behind me for the tail end of Parenthetical Girls‘ set and I got so starstruck that I all but literally ran away to shoot from the opposite side of the balcony), Los Campesinos! took the stage. I think it’s interesting here to note the crowd at Metro. Rarely do you see a show with such a stark difference between the crowds of attendees. It was a strange mix of the kind of high school sophomores that I would have killed to be when I was a tween, and 20-somethings — most a few years older than me — who appeared to be just tolerating the younger crowd. Such is the environment of an all ages show of this sort. Still, age differences aside, everyone there absolutely loved the band. There was a palpable energy of a great love for the music that night, not just for the new songs but for the entire LC! catalogue. It’s those sort of shows, populated by rabid and devoted fans, that become the favorites of bands and fans alike.

During his banter, Zac Pennington pegged headlining Los Campesinos! as being a band of “quaint“

Los Campesinos! at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

people, thanks in large part to their accents. On stage, though, LC! is anything but quaint. Even the slowest and most poignant of their songs are emphatic and full-bodied. There isn’t joy in their performance so much as there is energy. Each lyric is sung with as much emotion as it had when it was first written. It also doesn’t hurt that their catalogue as a whole, especially as their live staples, are characteristically danceable.

I for one was surprised slightly by their set list. I’ve become accustom to bands playing mostly new songs, with a few old favorites thrown in. While Campesinos’s set wasn’t exactly half and half, it did feel like there were a large amount of old songs being played. This would normally frustrate me, especially with as much love as I have for the new release. Instead, hearing many of my old favorites was like snuggling into a perfectly worn-in sweatshirt before dancing the night away. And I don’t care who’s complaining, “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks” is still a perfect closer.

I can’t possibly offer any complaints. This is a seasoned band playing the energetic show that they’re known for, delivering to the surprise of no one. My favorite part of the show, of course having nothing to do with the music, was seeing a jackass in a Scooby Doo costume crowd surf onto stage and spend too much time dancing before getting kicked off. It would have been just an amusing anecdote, had Gareth not torn him to shreds and trashed him to the audience in between songs, saying he must have “seriously low self-esteem”. Gareth ain’t gonna take no shenanigans, apparently.

Los Campesinos! at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

Check out the rest of my shots from the show here!

Sock Monkey Sound

Review: I Fight Dragons – Metro Chicago, 12/17/11

Lindsey — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:24:55 +0000

Local Nerds, All Grown Up

Abuse of lens flare effect has been cited.

A few years ago, I stumbled across I Fight Dragons opening up for MC Chris. At the time, they were that quirky little band that would do well in Chicago, but would probably stay there.

Oh how things have changed.

Between the MC Chris tour, Bamboozle, and now the band has matured tremendously. They are truly a local band done good, and I can’t wait to watch them explode.

From the original songs (of which they played all my favorites), to the Mario theme, to the Jonathan Coulton cover, the show was all fun. Especially the Coulton cover. Every single song sounded fantastic. It really blew my mind. And it wasn’t just the crowd enjoying the show–the band looked like they were having the time of their life. Their energy was contagious and you couldn’t help but dance your ass off.

Ok, here’s how I sell the band to my friends:
Me: They’re so good. They play this great pop-punk, but the coolest part is… they play game controllers!
Friend: (looks at me like I’m insane) Ok, Lindsey.
Me: NINTENDO CONTROLLERS! AS INSTRUMENTS!

At which point my friend either pats me on the head or walks away. They don’t really have the same appreciation for clever musical devices as I do.

I am really impressed by the controller factor in their music. I mean, they write good songs anyway, but then they throw this really unique factor into it. How many other bands play the power pad mid-show?

I know I said this about the album too, but I do think the show, the band and everything sends a good message that is so subtle that it’s missed on a lot of fans. Their songs, their show everything is so different, and the band seems so shamelessly proud of themselves. They should be. And I hope that they’re showing more than a few fans that it’s ok to be happy with who you are.

I don’t say this often enough: You’re a dumbass if you don’t like this band.

Credit also goes to opening bands The Kickback and Protomen who were both talented and very interesting.

Sock Monkey Sound

The Greatest Show Ever Website

Sock Monkey Sound — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Jim Hanke, this weeks Sock Monkey Sound guest, sent the following email to us last night. He mentioned this promo to us on the episode and we thought we would make it easy for all of our listeners if we just posted a link to the site below. In addition to Kid, You’ll Move Mountains album ‘Loomings’ you also can download songs by the other bands playing the show; Venna, Picture Books, and Crayolala. This is a limited time offer during the month of December so take advantage while you can and don’t forget to download the flier to get into the show for free.

Hello,
In lead-up to our date Saturday, January 2nd at the Metro, our group has teamed up along with the others performing that night and have launched a new site today:

http://www.greatestshowever.com

This site has each group’s latest release, including our full-length Loomings, for FREE DOWNLOAD.
It also has a printable ticket for FREE ADMISSION to the Metro show, before 9pm.

Please feel free to get word out via any and all publications, Twitters, Facebooks, etc and certainly let us know if you have any further questions or would like to assist further in any press opportunities.

Happy holidays!
Jim

PS – Kid, You’ll Move Mountains also performs live on the WGN TV Midday News on Thursday, Dec 31st!

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