I've found that the number of good shows at the El Mocambo over the last several years have been few and far between. Not that I ever went to the El Mocambo that much, even in its heyday, but I do remember when it used to host a more consistent level of good bands(or more specifically, bands I'd be interested in seeing). It turned out that the the Kaiser Chiefs show, which I decided to buy tickets for a few days before, would be one of the better shows the El Mo has had in the last little while. Also on the upside was that there was a good lineup of opening bands. I was aware that the High Dials were one of the openers but only found out when I reached the venue the night of the show that Uncut and The Golden Dogs were on the bill. The Golden Dogs were up first and I was surprised how good they were. Reminding me alot of By Divine Right, The Golden Dogs were just very unpretentious sounding. Their music hovered in that general pop-rock territory but rather than tread any of those musical waters that are currently in vogue these days(and I guess I'm pointing mainly to the headliners of the night, the Kaiser Chiefs), The Golden Dogs have a sound that seems to have more classic influences. The Rolling Stones-sounding set-opener was terrific. I liked the breezy pop of "Don't Make A Sound" with the lovely female vocals and tasteful keyboard arrangements of Jessica Grassia as well as the cool brushed drumming of Beau Stocker. Lead vocalist Dave Azzolini's impromptu song at the end of the night(which lyrically thanked the crowd for coming to the show and other charming ramblings), which Jessica also joined in on, was funny but sweet and reminded me a bit of Jonathan Richman. There was an energetic streak that ran throughout the set, no better example than when Dave jumped onto the floor during his guitar solo. Normally, guitar solos aren't my thing, but it was actually kinda cool to see Dave get spastic (and I realize that I've been using the word 'spastic' alot lately).
Not much I can say about the next two bands, The High Dials and Uncut. Don't get me wrong, they are both good bands. However, I've seen Uncut three times before. Although, this was one of their better shows in recent memory as Ian Worang's vocals weren't quite road-weary sounding as when I saw the band play in Hamilton in December 2004 or when they opened for The Fever in November 2004. That one spotlight off to the left side of the stage, which cast the band in half light and shadow was cool also. I think they played a new song or two although it was the songs from their debut "Those Who Were Hung Hang Here" which rocked the crowd the most. "Taken In Sleep" was, of course, wicked. The High Dials got that whole sixties guitar-pop sound going on, albeit with more of modern flavour. There were alot of good melodies, some cool background vocals and energetic beat-influenced guitar arrangements. A song or two sort of treaded more 'prog-rock' territory(maybe a little of The Verve) and maybe dragged on a tad longer than I hoped. The band did experience some technical difficulties with a blown amp which fucked up the momemtum of their set as it probably took a long 3-4 minutes to get things going again. Other than that slight setback, they played a good set overall. In all honesty though, I wasn't quite in the mood for their music that night for some reason.
And that brings us to Kaiser Chiefs. One of my favourite singles of the last 2 months has been their song "I Predict A Riot". It's a great punk-mod-pop tune along the lines of The Jam which just bristles with energy and has a killer chorus. Yes, they remind me alot of The Futureheads, maybe a little of Franz Ferdinand. It's like a whole new Brit-pop invasion! Smartly dressed in Brit-mod-influenced attire, they looked quite stylish but fortunately had some musical chops to back it up. There was alot of energetic prouncing around the stage by lead singer Ricky Wilson, who just could not stay still. That was alot of fun to watch. Maybe it was just because the songs, other than the first single, were unknown to me but I wasn't quite as engaged with the songs as I was hoping for. Yes, I bobbed my head for the majority of the songs but the hooks weren't always there. I won't write 'em off but I'm hoping that an eventual listening of their debut CD will give me a change of heart. That said, the crowd(myself included) were pleased overall with the band's performance. The name, 'The Kaiser Chiefs' well that's another story, but at this point having seen them live, I couldn't imagine them changing it, nor do I think I'd want them to anymore. [photos from the show]
For the life of me I can't find a full length mp3(legal or otherwise) of "I Predict A Riot" on the 'net anywhere. You can hear a sample from the band's website. Or else, check out the oh so quiet show which has links to streaming video of the song.
20hz'ers comment on the show. Yes, that line of chairs and tables in front of the stage was just plain annoying. Fucking lazy bastards.
brooklynvegan went to the recent Kaiser Chiefs show in New York City and he has some photos.
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