Savages Return To LA

SAVAGES

DUKE GARWOOD

FONDA THEATER, LA

30 SEPTEMBER, 2013

For the third time this year, Savages returned to Los Angeles, continuing their upward ascent before a rabid crowd at the Fonda Theater. Their debut appearance in LA was April, setting down at the Echoplex for a show around their Coachella appearance. After their debut LP's release, they came back for two sold out shows at the El Rey Theater. Bringing us up to the present, the Fonda's upstairs was closed, but the lower half was filled, and the band showed no sign of reticence on the bigger stage. They tore through songs from "Silence Yourself", and unlike the one-note, runaway train intensity of previous sets, they varied the tempo, using "Waiting For A Sign" to showcase guitarist Gemma Thompson. Hauling out a piano for lead singer Jehnny Beth, and bringing aboard opener Duke Garwood to reprise his clarinet performance from the recorded version, they essayed a stark version of album closer "Marshall Dear" that had the audience rapt before they returned to the previously scheduled pummeling. "She Will" and "Husbands" encapsulated the proceedings, kicking the crowd into a frenzy, and underscoring the importance of the engine room, bassist Ayse Hassan's stout support, verging on lead lines, and drummer Fay Milton's unquenchable drive. At the core of the matter was Jehnny Beth, intensity manifest, her every sinew poised for attack, evidenced best by the red pumps that broke up her otherwise all black wardrobe. Close up, even the veins in her feet protruded, she was invested fully.
In lieu of an encore, they finished off the evening with Johnny Hostile and Duke Garwood joining in the fun for a lengthy jam on "Fuckers (Don't Let The Fuckers Get You Down)", that stretched out into Stooges Fun House-era territory. A satisfying finish from a band that seems determined to push at their limits.
On the home front, Silence Yourself is nominated for this year's Mercury Prize, and Jehnny Beth took a page out of the Godspeed You Black Emperor hymnbook with her own take on the proceedings. Regardless of how the gala turns out, they've made quite a splash with their debut, and frankly, their live interpretation dwarves the recorded version. This is a band you'll want to experience.

Duke Garwood led off the evening, and in Savages tradition, it was not a separate entity, but an extension of the whole. An opening act is part of the family, setting the tone and laying the groundwork for what's to come. Backed by Pop Noire co-head Johnny Hostile on bass, Garwood kicked off with a desert rock vibe that seemed lodged between the Dirty Three and To Bring You My Love-era PJ Harvey. Unconcerned in the least with getting to a chorus, Garwood and Hostile conjured waves of dread, testing the audience, before breaking into more bite-sized song structures. As the set built, it became apparent that this was one man's personal take on the blues, evoking the mood without falling prey to all the cliches that implies.

Savages Vs.

Savages

Johnny Hostile

El Rey Theater, LA

23 July, 2013

Savages opened up a two-night run at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles with a devastating performance. The London-based quartet, (vocalist Jehnny Beth, guitarist Gemma Thompson, and the rhythm section of Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan), appeared here in April, and has generated much excitement with their debut LP, Silence Yourself (Pop Noire/Matador).
In keeping with the band philosophy of total immersion in the set, there was no photography of video shot to capture the moment from me, but Debi Del Grande more than does justice to the evening for the LA Record.
Pop Noire co-founder Johnny Hostile opened with a hypnotic rhythm heavy set that hit some of the same sweet spots as early Kills. His stint was livened up with guest appearances from Gemma Thompson for guitar support, and later in the set, none other than Jehnny Beth herself.
As for the main event, Savages hit the stage fully in control, and didn't look back. They're honing a fine sense of dynamics, but the emphasis is pretty straightforward: they have come to rock. Gemma Thompson's feedback showcase on "Waiting For A Sign", and "No Face" and "She Will" were propulsive highlights, and first single "Flying To Berlin" was a welcome inclusion. All told, an exciting night to savor.

Journey Into Darkness: COME live in L.A.

COME

TARA JANE O'NEIL

BOOTLEG THEATER, LA

19 JUNE, 2013

To call it a reunion is something of a misnomer, I prefer to think of Boston's Come as more of a comet. Sightings, particularly these days, are very rare, but they still burn bright. Coming of age in the great alternative boom of the 90's, they never went big, but they went deep, marking those who heard their music for life. In 2010, the original lineup of Thalia Zedek, Chris Brokaw, Sean O'Brien, and Arthur Johnson came back together to help celebrate Matador 21, and this year's appearance on the horizon is linked to Matador's reissue of their debut LP 11:11. After a short European jaunt, they turned their attention stateside, kicking off the U.S. tour with this date at the Bootleg Theater in L.A.
It was a ferocious set, focused on their first two albums, leading off with debut single "Car" and proceeding at an unrelenting pace. The European dates paid off in spades, as the band was locked in, seemingly oblivious to the years spent apart, hitting on all cylinders. Mission Of Burma, (also from Boston), is the only band I've seen come off a hiatus fully locked and loaded. While not Beethoven, it's certainly not The Ramones, and the various elements that made the band so distinctive originally were fully accounted for: the tense guitar intertwining of Zedek and Brokaw, and the telepathic, and occasionally psychopathic rhythm section of O'Brien and Johnson, steering the dynamic changes of the tunes. Interesting to note that later, O'Brien admitted to having a hard time hearing his bass onstage, and major testimony to his skills that it wasn't at all evident. Johnson's drumming takes on another dimension live, especially in a small room, and his enthusiasm underlined the celebratory nature of what we were seeing. It's so easy to get caught up in the darkness of the songs, and one's own personal connections to them and overlook the fact that being in this room, at this time, was a minor miracle of sorts.
Chris Brokaw, having just played the Bootleg Bar in the front of the house a few short months ago, seemed totally at home, patrolling the edge of the stage, and pulling off his guitar conversation with Zedek flawlessly throughout the night, notably on an epic "Sad Eyes". It was during "Last Mistake", when Zedek abandoned guitar for harmonica, that the enormity of Brokaw's contributions were on display, and the ending jam huddle with the rhythm section was worth of vintage Crazy Horse.
Thalia Zedek, of course, is the hyper magnetic center of things, from the Peter Bagge sticker on her guitar, to Those Songs: a testament of the long and winding road of life. What seem to some like dispatches from the edge of sanity always connected with me for, (if this makes sense), their innate hopefulness. At the end of the line, no matter what comes down, the fact remains that we have made it through, and we are here, now. Initially, Zedek's vocals seemed lost to all but the hardcore in the band's tornado, but her instructions to the sound crew paid dividends, and she was quickly up and riding the waves. Order was completely restored with a towering "Off To One Side", with the band, (sans drummer), communing during the three minute opening instrumental section, before Johnson comes in and all hell breaks loose, with Zedek leading the way. The combination of dirge and fury in the song totally encapsulated the night, as well as the band. "Bell" and "Fast Piss Blues" brought the proceedings home, and for an impromptu encore, they honored the request a fan shouted out earlier in the night, and unleashed a savage "Brand New Vein", perfectly capping the evening.
What's next is anyone's guess...Thalia Zedek and Chris Brokaw have carved out singular solo careers with her Via, and his Gambler's Ecstasy being their most recent releases. Hopefully enough attention will be paid to the reissue of 11:11 that Matador will proceed and honor the rest of their catalogue with the same gusto they bestowed upon Pavement. While they were never the best-selling artist on the label, they were always the band I most aesthetically identified with the label, and in the greatest sense, this night was proof that in some way, you can go home again.

Tara Jane O'Neil, (Rodan, Sonora Pine), opened the evening with a set that ran the gamut from drones to the eventual appearance of a female chorus, drawing heavily from A Ways Away. Her band seemed to include some local recruits, and they did a good job of melding in with her idiosyncratic songs. She held the crowd spellbound throughout, and they seemed to audibly exhale at the set's conclusion. Interesting sidebar: Tara Jane O'Neil was one of a rotating cast of rhythm section members taking part in Come's third LP, Near Life Experience, after the departure of the original team.

(some words on Matador's recent reissue of their debut 11:11)

To tell their story is to tell mine...my entry way to this whole crazy punk adventure was through Patti Smith and Television back in the day, and with that as a frame of reference, it's easy to see why the light bulb went on when i first heard this album. It's so deeply embedded as to be impossible to parse at this point, joining the company of a select few records like Marquee Moon and Daydream Nation that rewired my DNA, and how i listen to music. When i'm asked for a description, all i've ever been able to come up with is: Thermonuclear Blues. Epic guitar flights, harrowing lyrical scenes-to me it's the whole package, capped off by a cover of the Rolling Stones "I've Got The Blues" that bears the same relationship as Husker Du's cover of "Eight Miles High" is to the Byrds original. Sadly, that cover is the missing link in what is a loving restoration by Team Matador, and if that hurdle is what stood in the way of this unlikely event happening, so be it. Fleshed out to a double LP vinyl with a savage recording of the band in their prime at the Vermonstress Festival, it's certainly worth a gander even if you had the original. The real triumph here is how they cut through the murk without cleaving the mystery. Drums are accentuated, intertwined guitar lines thrown into sharper relief. It's truly a case of falling in love again.

The joy is in the details, Thalia Zedek's gift for drama, bringing the righteous tumult of "Submerge" to a close with the line: "Waiting for the pillow that used to cradle your head", or the exquisite pacing of the last line of "Dead Molly": "Everything rolls...back...down...the...hill". "Brand New Vein" boasts the immortal "I taste the sweetness of life/and I lick off the knife". While it's easy to get sucked into the nightmare visions, it's the guitar work that brings you back. Twisting, churning guitar lines throughout, Zedek and Brokaw dueling and climbing mountains, ("Fast Piss Blues"), or paring it back, (soft chiming intro of "Bell", or the opening elegy of "Off To One Side"). Underpinning these sonic trips is the rhythm section of O'Brien and Johnson, by measures understated and titanic, as the occasion dictates. "Sad Eyes" was the song that initially hooked me, starting as a ballad, before departing with a solo just past the three minute mark that's pure transcendence. It's not the sprawling epic of most of these tracks, but in it's conciseness, might offer the most pure example of the band's beauty, and how four seemingly disparate people came together to become much more than the sum of its parts.