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I Was There: British Sea Power w/The 1900s

posted by Carlye at 10:56 am.

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Check out my review, a bunch of sweet pics and the (shockingly bizarre) ending to the show after the jump! Click on it NOW!

[British Sea Power, The 1900s and Common Loon at Canopy Club on 3/19]

THE 1900s.

I missed Common Loon, but made it in time for The 1900s, whose set I feared I would accidentally miss. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

I’m not a sound engineering expert, but it doesn’t take one to know that something was very wrong with the sound on Saturday night. The 1900s soundchecked while the audience waited, which was not only very time consuming (to which the band was getting visually frustrated), but seemed kind of bizarre. Apparently, British Sea Power showed up late, which might be a proper explanation for the confusion.

Once everything was in place, The 1900s played their infectious pop tunes quite well, even though jokey comments by singer/guitarist Edward and singer/tambourine player Jeanine displayed that they were less than pleased with the technically difficulties by thanking the crowd for not leaving and asking for liquor from the bar — specifically, whiskey in a glass.

Their songs are infused with a great vintage flair, displayed by their different-decade-influenced outfits and an instrumental mix including violin, synthed-out keys and collaborative percussion (including hand shakers, a triangle and other hand-held noisemakers you probably thought were only fitting for an elementary school’s music class.)

But, the 1900s’ stand out tracks deserve the label for a reason. “When I Say Go” off of 2007’s Cold & Kind and “Bring The Good Boys Home” from 2006’s Plume Delivery EP are their strongest songs, and also the catchiest. (I just paused a CD I was listening to in order to play both, regardless that I’ve heard each many, many times.)

Another reason to dig the 1900s: Jeanine’s interesting voice and tambourine skills will make you wish you lived in the ’70s, guaranteed.

BRITISH SEA POWER.

British Sea Power…rocked. It was killer to see them in the Canopy’s Void Room (the one you enter into at the front of the club), which was quite packed, but still the smallest audience I’ll probably ever see BSP with.

Their soundcheck took obnoxiously long (yet again), leaving me sleepy at the start of their show. But, all heavy eyelids disappeared when they started playing.

If you didn’t come back to CU early in order to celebrate Easter with your family or have an extra day at home, you should start regretting that right…now.

Their violinist perfectly balances out the consistently heavy drumming, and British Sea Power’s musical mix yields a great sound to wiggle your body along with. ( Listen to “No Lucifer” and TRY to not even tap a foot. You can’t do it.)

For a band to title their CD “Do You Like Rock Music?,” they have to be prepared for the chance that the listener will respond with, “yuck, no.” Clearly, BSP know their music is good enough to consistently yield a positive response to the posed question, because the disc, especially when performed live, will get one.

Their intensity is pretty apparent just from a quick listen and a glance at these photos, but I don’t think any of us had any idea what was going to come next.

It started with this.

Staying in the same place for the majority of the performance and looking extremely unassuming in his black pants with matching red piping to the spandex-y shirt he had on and a lack of facial expressions, out of nowhere, this guitarist began playing with his face.

Then…this happened.

He crowdsurfed the Void room.

On his first attempt, he jumped directly on top of one man, who couldn’t hold a flying human up on his own, so they both fell down. Giving it a second chance, he tried again, and the thirty-or-so people in the pit had to try their best to hold up his withering body. Each time I went to shoot a picture, another appendage came near my face, and as the biggest weakling in the world, I backed away. This is the only photo I got — of him trying to hang from Canopy’s speaker.

He proceeded to mount a pole upside down, and was so close to falling that people in the audience had to help him to ensure that he wouldn’t bust his head open. He seemed possessed, which left me wondering if he was wasted, tripping on drugs or just downright crazy.

I still have no idea.

He then mounted another band member before tearing through the stage and ramming his head and body into a few more musicians on stage.

After the surf-moshing display, the band wrapped up their last song and called it a day. For a show that energetic, it would have been surprising that there wasn’t an encore, but considering the last five minutes of the show, the audience was shocked and confused enough to let it end there.

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