Live @ The Electric Factory 1/18/2008
Louis XIV
I've honestly never listened to Louis XIV nor did I ever set aside time to check them out, so it was very interesting going into this show blind. About all I knew about these guys was that they're from San Deigo, CA and weren't exactly up my alley. From their show I realized a few things: 1) They will most likely never impress me. 2) Their best song is not "Finding Out True Love Is Blind", which is their most heavy promoted song, but surprisingly is "There's A Traitor In This Room" from The Distances From Everyone To You - EP. 3) The band's main theme revolves around dirty sex talk, lust and raw banter.
Their style of peforming consumes the band entirely. The vocals of lead singer Jason Hill are more talk than singing, although sing-talking in the higher notes was somewhat impressive. The backup vocals of Brian Karscig were very impressive. His odd top hat and beard topped off with a higher pitched singing style coupled with both guitar and keyboard playing made him the busiest performer on stage (and most talented it would seem). All of the little details built into the style of their performance all the way down to the spiral telephone-like-cord for the guitar input were nice additives.
Mixing in two violinists with the the foursome was also an added bonus, but really only made an impact in one song. I can see why people dig these guys, but their performance was lacking the gusto I was looking for. I also noticed, once I did a little research on their material, everything was from The Best Secrets Are Kept, which happens to be their only full length LP to date. There was a new song they played called "Ground Control" or something to that effect.
MP3: Louis XIV - Guilt By Association (buy)
Louis XIV MySpace Page
Hot Hot Heat were the zaniest, most electrifying band in the lineup. This is another band I had no past experiences with nor do I have any recollection of their songs. This Canadian group, led by the poofy red-headed Steve Bays got the crowd into their performance immediately. Let me say that the contrast from Louis XIV to Hot Hot Heat was night and day. My first thoughts were Bays' vocals tweaked like that of the infamous lo-fi vocals of Brandon Flowers (The Killers). The white synthesizer held up by thick white pillars was amusing, as was the beanpolishness of the band overall which had them oddly bouncing around the stage.
I was surprised to know one of their songs "Goodnight Goodnight", which spurred somewhat of a dance party in the front of the crowd, as well as did my favorite song they played, "Talk to Me, Dance With Me". Their performance was highly entertaining. Every band member moved with the poppy beats and the charismatic singing of Bays', who truly controlled the crowd. It was a great surprise to catch these Canadians in their element of a performance surrounded by hip clap-a-long songs and pleasing crowd favorites, which they seemed to have plenty of.
MP3: Hot Hot Heat - Get In Or Get Out (buy)
The band we really came to the show to watch. Editors infectious guitar tandems drizzled with squeaky, tight-laced riffs were enough for me to like them on first listen when I discovered this UK groups rock style a year ago. Building upon their first success, The Back Room, was trumped in 2007 with their release of An End Has A Start featuring songs such as "An End Has A Start", "Bones" and "Smokers Outside Hospital Doors". We did a little video shooting and posted three songs to YouTube. The sound and video quality are by no means professional, but you get the idea.
Editors - Bones
The first song they played is actually my favorite Editors song, "Bones". They followed up with "An End Has A Start", then led into a few of their lesser popular songs. They ended their show with their success from their last album, "Munich", which spurred an encore where they played "Smokers Outside Hospital Doors".
Editors - An End Has A Start
Their performance was moving, and energetic. As the headliner band, their performance justly backed it up. Although there was not much movement on stage, the group was very composed, like that of Interpol, who Editors' sound is commonly compared to. Their sound live is much like their album. Tom Smith's vocals were not as deep as they are recorded in the studio, but from hearing him live, you can tell he has a stunning voice. His arm movements are a bit oddly constrained and his singing is full of emotion as he commonly resorted to closing his eyes when belting out the powerful deep notes he does so well.
Editors - Weight of the World
We were lucky to capture "Weight of the World", which was their fourth best performed song, aside from the two we captured above and "All Sparks". "Weight of the World" came off as very repetitive on their album, but live, there was more variance in performance style. Smith, who plays more guitar than most lead singers, frequently kept his guitar straped to his back and moved over to his piano (see picture below). At the end of the show, after playing "Munich", Smith climbed on top of his piano and stood upright over the crowd, which made for a stunning scene and spurred a generous reaction from his onlookers. Editors truly outperformed Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV and were a fantastic performance to see. If you enjoy them, I highly recommend seeing them live.
MP3: Editors - Smokers Outside of Hospital Doors (buy)
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