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indie-snob>+!#
goldfrapp @ the park west (9-25-03)
with brookville |
 Line-up: Goldfrapp changed her image. Changed her wardrobe. Changed her hair. Changed her style. Sure, most of these fall under the evolution of any artist, but Goldfrapp has certainly exhibited the most dramatic change of late. The lush, glorious vocals of Felt Mountain downsized a bit with the more modest success of Black Cherry, an album more ready for the dance-floor than the mountainside. Because of this, though, I was extremely interested in seeing the product of the band's live show, since it's been two years since Alison and the gang have graced a Chicago stage (May of 2001 at Schuba's). I was a bit surprised though with the outcome. A band known as Brookville opened. Reading up on the band, I found that it's the producer of the Smashing Pumpkins' band. Alright, maybe a little weird, sure. But things got even stranger for a Goldfrapp opener. I was expecting someone to come out with full-blown intensity and energetic strong structure and all those things that the new Goldfrapp embodies so well, but in fact, out came just the opposite. Brookville, while not short on sound texture (they had a number of keyboards and all the other makings of a traditional rock band), simply put me to sleep. No, they weren't bad or bland or any of the above, just melodic pop music fronted by a tremendously soothing voice. In fact, my friend and I were the only people standing for quite a long time when we decided to just give up and join the crowd in siting. Not exactly what I wanted for a Goldfrapp opener. Barely entertaining, but pleasant to relax to. And so, out came Goldfrapp, as haunting as ever, bathing in her dark wails and amazing vocal range. All those whistle-like noises you hear on Felt Mountain? Well, those are very much Alison's voice. The set got underway with a lot of material off Felt Mountain, which obviously set a far different feel for the evening. This was, however, perfectly acceptable. Alison stood there in her pseudo naval uniform, a tight black shirt, a short short black skirt, and a little naval hat. She wore boots but pranced around stage more like an angel. The set was light on explicit sexuality for a while and relied more so on the implied nature of her very very short skirt and sexy stage presence. It wasn't until the band started playing songs like "Twist" and other danceable Black Cherry numbers that I really noticed the crowd getting actively involved. There were plenty of highlights for the evening as Alison really just dripped sex. The band played amazingly well along side her, improvising a lot of the electronics with slightly more conventional keyboards and regular bass lines. All the drumbeats were done live, which I found very impressing (bands like the Faint find it all too easy to flip a switch and then sing for the rest of the evening). "Human," "Pilots" and "Utopia" all sounded beautiful. Alison's voice could not have been more perfect. "Black Cherry," "Tiptoe" and "Twist" are also wonderful songs off the new album. All in all, I was extremely impressed with Goldfrapp. Certainly worth massive amounts of pure awe live with Alison's ASTONISHING vocal range (really, you'll be amazed). Perfectly adapted to live music and surprisingly interesting. Definitely a recommended live band. Grade: A Related reviews:
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