The 8-piece juggernaut that put Australia back on the musical map! The rocking Philly quintet that revitalized power pop! The other band!
Ok, Architecture in Helsinki are less on the map of Australia than such hopeless poseurs as Jet, nobody's ever heard of Dr. Dog, and... well, I suppose Aqueduct is in fact the other band. And tonight I saw them live at the Trocadero (except Jet... hopefully I'll never have to see them).
Aqueduct started the night off. They came out to some ridiculous nerd-rap that sounded like Junior Senior if Junior Senior could only afford a Casio keyboard, then it was all syrupy upbeat pop from there. It sounded sort of like Mates of State without all the obnoxiously cute harmonies (sure enough, after some research it turns out that Aqueduct has toured with Mates of State). And not one, but TWO novelty covers. It's not showing a lot of confidence in your material when you say, "You know, maybe 'Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta' wasn't enough, we better play a Journey song too." Not that there's anything wrong with "Don't Stop Believin'." But I'm not sure those guitar parts were meant to be heard played with a cheesy synth sound that was probably outdated even by the time Journey made that song. Only cheesy guitars will do!
The lead singer (compared by an audience member to Jack Black because he was a large man with long hair playing music) also mentioned that he'd been told that Philly crowds were tough, but that we seemed great to him. That's right, you kiss our ass like that, we'll treat you right. But God help you if you ever show up in a Cowboys jersey...
Next were local boys Dr. Dog, who are apparently in the midst of their second tour with Architecture in Helsinki this year. I actually saw Dr. Dog play a free show in Rittenhouse Square about a month ago. I liked them then, and they were even better tonight. It's big, straightforward rock music, which I don't listen to a lot of these days, but they've got a great knack for melody and harmony. And their energy is through the roof. I'm usually the first one to point out that just because band members move around a lot doesn't mean it's a great show (see: Explosions in the Sky), but Dr. Dog's enthusiasm is contagious, because they just look like they're having such a great time. And that's what they're all about. Their music won't change the world, and it's certainly not innovative in any way, but it's undeniably fun. They also have a guitar player who looks like Tom Petty if he were about Tom Cruise's height, and another who's literally almost two feet taller. Even standing on opposite sides of the stage, they make the whole stage look like it's slanting to the left.
Another Dr. Dog side note: since I saw tonight's show for free (see two entries ago), and I downloaded their album, and the first time I saw them was a free outdoor show, I have now seen Dr. Dog twice and have their album to listen to whenever I want, and haven't paid a dime for any of it. If they all starve to death and never cut another record, I'm going to feel personally responsible. Hopefully if that happens I'll find out in time to mail them the $30+ I probably should have paid by now.
So out came Architecture in Helsinki. First let me say that their stage setup is as ridiculous as you'd expect if you've ever heard them. No less than six microphones were positioned at the front of the stage, for various vocals, brass instruments, flutes, mouth organs, and more percussion instruments than you can shake a stick at. LITERALLY! There was a thing that looked something like a broken broom lowered from the ceiling with pots, pans, triangles, a whistle, and what appeared to be a picture frame hung from it, which they explained were all items picked up at various thrift stores in every city they've toured in that they could hang on it and beat for another percussion instrument. Hmm.
Another thing about them: they are way too cute to be Australian. Even the guys. I had a nice stereotype in my head that every Australian was something like Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee. Obviously I knew it wasn't true, but think about how hilarious it would have been to hear Architecture in Helsinki sing their dainty little sing-song melodies, then step up to the mic after the song finished and bellow, "G'DAY MATE!" while chugging a Foster's.
Anyway, as far as their actual performance goes, it was merely ok. I was expecting better, to be honest. They hit some great highs ("Neverevereverdid," "Tiny Paintings," "What's in Store?" and the adorable "It'5!") and the rest were pretty much mediocre. First those highs. When the material is good, the band is more or less good, and on the songs listed above, they brought great energy, great dynamics, and were extremely tight, which is no small feat, considering the hairpin turns that a lot those songs make. But the rest weren't all that great. There was a lot of uninteresting screwing around that led into songs, which weren't really "jams" as much as "noisemaking sessions," for which I have so little patience these days (I've resolved to myself to run up to the front of the stage and hold my middle fingers aloft if I ever see a band end a set with an egregiously long spasm of feedback, but it hasn't really happened since the resolution was made).
The real disappointment was "Do the Whirlwind," which is one of the most fun songs I've heard this year, and which I figured would be a highlight. They saved it for last too, which built up my hopes even more, but ultimately it came out pretty flat, and minus the great saxophone break at the end. They couldn't have done that with the horns? Or synths? Oh well. It wouldn't have saved it anyway, since the rest of it was a muddled mess.
So overall, not really a great show, but not bad either. Dr. Dog's and 1/3 of Architecture in Helsinki's sets were great. And the whole thing was free. (Because I didn't pay to get in, I rationalized to myself that I could buy a beer in a plastic cup for $5 and not feel ripped off. I still felt ripped off.)
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