What could have been a stellar show, the Super Furry Animals/Caribou show at The Phoenix yesterday turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. Opening the show was Canadian artist Caribou whose name I've been hearing on and off in the press for a while. With many of his songs featuring a dual drum assault, Caribou's music had elements of subtle electronica, indie rock guitar noodling, playful keyboard melodies and modest pop vocals. Variety is the spice of life, and his music went from beat-driven World Music-sounding compositions, to indie rock guitar instrumentals, to instrumental dual-drum excercises. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, especially when Mr. Caribou took the drumkit. Interesting music to say the least, but I'm not yet converted. Some other time perhaps. The Super Furries show yesterday was the second stop of their North American tour which began the previous night in Montreal. It's not like the band didn't try to put on a good show yesterday. On the contrary, I appreciated their efforts but in the end it didn't come together for me. Preceding the band's entrance onto the stage was a screen projected video of the band riding around in one of those film-studio lot vehicles, with a Rocky-sounding theme song playing in the background. Then a triumphant voice over the PA introduced the band and the Super Furries took the stage. The band was dressed in matching hooded jump suits which had been splattered with fluorescent glow-in-the-dark paint. It was more than a fitting representation of their wacky sonic eccentricities.
My previous knowledge of their Super Furries' music was limited to their albums "Fuzzy Logic" and "Rings Around The World" and their luscious single "Hello Sunshine". The lush "Hello Sunshine" came out early in the set and I wallowed in its beauty. Predictably, the band performed a substantial portion of new tracks off their new album "Love Kraft". I do recall a jammier, spacier feel to most of these tracks, but nothing really stood out for me. In general the set leaned towards the Furries' jammier, and slower psychedelic pop numbers with less emphasis on their more manic pop tunes and in the end I think this was the downfall of the evening. When you got the Super Furries dressed in matching fluorescent, glow-in-the-dark paint splattered jumpsuits, wouldn't you expect a little bit of rocking out? Not to pick on lead singer Gruff, but his heavy Welsh accent made his stage banter barely comprehensible, leaving me scratching my head to whatever he said.
Disappointedly, the Super Furries' back catalogue had only minor representation in the set. At least they managed to squeeze in "Rings Around The World" tracks like the fun, rocking self-titled track and the gorgeous "Juxtaposed With U"(although disappointedly, the song featured an unusually thick-sounding vocoder). During the performance of "Juxtaposed With U", Gruff put on a Power-Ranger-ish helmet which he then wore while he sang to the crowd. I thought that was hilarious. "Fuzzy Logic" was represented by only one track, "Something 4 The Weekend"(wtf, no "God! Show Me Magic"). A smattering of other tracks from some of the Super Furries' other albums were also included, but I'm not familiar with those. Musically, the band was on target but their stage presence left a little to be desired. Toronto was only the second date of their current North American tour so hopefully they'll perk up later on in the tour. For godsakes, they have the goofy matching jumpsuits; have fun with it.
The night ended with the band members crossing their guitar knecks like Knights crossing swords, then waving to the crowd as they walked off the stage. The keyboard/programming band member stayed onstage to keep the beat-driven, sonic collage playing as a video montage was projected onto the screen, first showing the individual band members(like credits in a movie), then showing a montage of scenes that the band shot in and around Toronto. I appreciated their video efforts, really, but after a while it just got awkward, because it went on for a long time and we all just stopped clapping. I thought the band might come out for a final bow but it never happened, and eventually the audience realized that and we all slowly filtered out of the club. It pains me to says this but I think I prefer the Super Furries on record than live. Of course, if they start to rock out again I might be tempted to give their live show another chance. Call me if that happens.
Related Links
- my photos from the show.
- someone else's photos from the show. [via Super Furry Animals Fans...Unite!]
- the setlist.
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The Straight spoke with UK's The Magic Numbers in advance of their show in Vancouver on November 6th. The band'll be performing a live session for KEXP on November 7th at 3pm PST(6 pm EST).
Sons and Daughters perform a live session for KEXP today(November 4th) at 2 pm PST(5 pm EST).
The Boston Globe speaks with The Constantines Steve Lambke about how the Canadian landscape figures itself into the band's music.
note: This post was suppose to have been up yesterday evening, but fucking Rogers Hi-Speed Internet service was down. Grrr.
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