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indie-snob>+!#
polyphonic spree @ metro (10-7-03)
with starlight mints, corn mo |
 Line-up: Corn Mo, the Starlight Mints, the Polyphonic Spree Every so often, there's a simple description of a band that catches your eye. You know, like: "gang of muppets doing Metallica covers." That would catch your eye. Similarly there's the Polyphonic Spree, the 23-member collective from Austin Texas with matching white robes. Oh, plus there are the three people who tour anyway. And the couple of kids that go along for the ride. The Polyphonic Spree create the catchiest of orchestral pop music, even landing a spot with their hit single "Light and Day" on the Volkswagen Beetle/iPod commercial. And they were even touring with the Starlight Mints. Oh how great was that?? As we stood waiting inside, tired from battling the swarms of Cubs fans outside, we wondered why only the Starlight Mints stuff was on stage, if the reason why doors opened late was because this mysterious "Corn Mo" wasn't going to be playing afterall. But sure enough, an overweight man with long, curly dirty blond hair stepped on stage in his sequined jacket, armed with only an accordion and a single cymbal that he played by tying a drum stick to his shoe and stomping. Oh, if nothing else, Corn Mo provided quite the spectacle. The songs themselves reminded me somewhat of Tenacious D, strange if not funny lyrics with lots of metal influenced screams. I was amazingly entertained if nothing else, and thats what a performer sets out to do. I'd highly recommend seeing him live, because it was impossible NOT to smile. I guess he's done some shows with They Might Be Giants, too. Yeah, why not? Just go to his website, that'll make things abundantly clear. [[click]] Grade: A And on came the Starlight Mints, whose music I've been impressed with for quite some time. I got the opportunity to see them back in June with the Violent Femmes/Flaming Lips/Ben Kweller, but was quite disappointed because their set was so very short. This set was much longer, clocking in at least at a solid half hour with about seven songs. They had some nice visuals up for the show, too, but the band is so awesome alone, it didn't really matter. "Black Cat" and "Rinky Dinky" will remain my favorite Mints song, but they did play at least one older song, though their set still focused heavily on their latest album, Built on Squares. The one thing that disappoints me each time is the fact that the strings that you hear on the album for songs like "Black Cat" are actually just done on the snythesizer. *sigh* Oh well. The Starlight Mints still create some of the best poppy music around. And I say that a lot, but it's true. They just make really interesting, great pop music. Buy the album, see them live. It'll make sense. Grade: A But then, the stage took form. The 23 members came out, one by one, filling the stage. Many members were barefoot, some probably naked under the robes, others obviously not. Basically, it was just a party. Each member had something interesting about them, whether it was the strange head movements of the choir members or the 7 foot tall guy right in front of me. As the band danced around stage, playing songs on and off of their debut Beginning Stages of..., you knew that you were part of a movement. Some movement. Representing something. I don't go to church, but if I were a religious man, I imagine that THIS would be the closest thing to church I'd ever have experienced. Things didn't really feel complete until the band started "Light and Day," ensuring that the crowd was having a good time as hundreds (if not thousands) of white balloons dropped from the ceiling of the Metro. Everyone was dancing and singing, and it definitely was one of the more enjoyable concert experiences of my lifetime. The truth was, though, that every song the Polyphonic Spree played during the evening felt like this, "It's the Sun," "Soldier Girl" and "Have a Day," certainly the more appreciated Polyphonic Spree songs, all were magical. The band took a brief pause to hold up a sign with the Cubs game score on it. When the band came on for their encore (which ended up lasting for 8 songs, they were allowed to go for as long as the Cubs game), everyone continued to have a great time. The band played a second run of "Light and Day" for reasons that were unclear at the time, dropping many more balloons. The last song the band played was the amazingly fun version of the Hedwig and the Angry Inch song, "Wig in a Box." Finally, the male harpist (the first male harpist I've ever seen), was left on stage, ending the show. I must say, it was amazing. Go see them any time you can. Grade: A+, the second best show I've ever seen, right behind the Flaming Lips. If you want to be "a part" of this show, there IS a way. The reason why the Spree played "Light and Day" twice was that they made a video out of it! So the new video for "Light and Day" was taped at the Metro. You can watch it on their website, and it's on MTV2 a lot (in fact, I woke up to seeing myself on MTV2 one morning!). Definitely check it out. If you look closely, you can see your favorite Indie-Snob (for all of half a second, next to a woman in a yellow bandana). Related Links: |