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indie-snob>+!#
grandaddy @ h.o.b. (8-3-03)
with patrick park, earlimart |
 Away from the scandals that plague Modesto, California (do you realize how many missing people come from that small town?), comes a band riddled with the quest of nature vs. technology. Grandaddy, perhaps one of the more lazy members of today’s indie scene with their slacker, skateboarder attitude, have several albums under their belts along with several tours opening for mainstream acts such as Pete Yorn, Beth Orton and Coldplay. It’s funny to see the wide array of people attending the show. There are definitely people who would call themselves “punks,” and there are blonde girls who are well-dressed and all together “cute,” and there are scrappy boys. Somehow, though, that seems to fit Grandaddy’s style perfectly. Patrick Park, a delightful singer/songwriter was first for tonight’s show. There were definitely numbers that impressed me more than others, but he really came across as this well-composed singer with really nice guitar parts. Keeping his capo on the first fret for 90% of his set (the only deviation was to the second fret, as I remember), his melodies were sweet as he plucked and strummed the strings of his acoustic guitar. Park was one of those guitarists who keep their fingernails long for picking and use the classical style of playing, creating a very structured sound to his guitar. Overall, I must say that I was quite impressed with his style and composition, and almost bought his 10-dollar album the other day. Definitely one of the better singer/songwriters I’ve seen live lately (although I haven’t seen that many). One day, when I was at Tower Records, I stopped by a listening station to listen to Earlimart’s last EP, Avenues. The beautiful melodies, soft-to-loud transitions between songs and the strange electronics and keyboards intrigued me, and I was most excited to hear them open for Grandaddy. While the set was mainly off their latest full-length, Everyone Down Here, I still found the differences between each song to be very intriguing. Some numbers, especially “Drinking on the Job,” had a lot of energy and charisma, while other songs like “The Movies,” were just quiet and beautiful. Other songs seemed to have a lot of energy, but just never make full use of it. I think the lead singer said it best as he introduced the only old song of the evening, “Portland, Ore.” by saying, “This is a real happy/sad song.” They closed the set with a great cover of Wire’s “Strange” and the beautiful piece “Dreaming Of…” with lots of synth strings. And so, Grandaddy came out, opening up, most suprisingly, to a song off The Sophtware Slump, “Hewlett’s Daughter.” Jason Lytle sported a baby-blue trucker’s hat tonight as his truly unattractive band played songs largely off Sumday with homemade videos rolling in the background. The videos often added amusement to the already zany lyrics of the band, with footage of a cat’s paw coming towards the camera or fighting off a small dog, making it look as though the animal was attacking Lytle himself. To be honest, I really enjoyed the numerous highlights off Sumday, since I feel it’s truly the band’s best. The glitchy keyboards sounded excellent live, especially in “The Go In the Go-For-It” and “Now It’s On” as the random lights on-stage lit as though it was a Flaming Lips show. Just as the band seemed to get going, the venue informed them that they had only five minutes left (damn the House of Blues and their evil, evil strict curfew), so the band played one final song (“Lost On Yer Merry Way”) and ended their set abruptly. Fans cheered for another fifteen minutes for an encore, but none came. So the audience was forced to be satisfied with the 13 songs out of the 16 or so on the setlist. I was honestly impressed by Grandaddy’s show, much more-so than when I saw them with Coldplay two years ago. One thing I said then, and still feel now is that Grandaddy uses a lot of distortion on the guitars live, more-so than in the album, so often times, the songs will sound a bit too polluted and not as clean as they do on the album. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (lord knows “clean” has ruined all those garage bands’ sound), seeing the band live definitely does have a different feel. Grade: A *Note: If you like the Flaming Lips’ shows, Grandaddy will probably be coming awfully close soon. They definitely proved to be on their way to a massive, grandiose live show… and good for them. Also, the band will be completing the second leg of their tour (mostly East Coast, I think) with Welsh band, Super Furry Animals, one of my personal favorites, so definitely check that out if you can. |