Silversun Pickups / Viva Voce at the Doug Fir, 10-28-06

I could not attend the Silversun Pickups/ Viva Voce show, but I did have a good friend of mine go and cover the show for you faithful reader(s). This blog has been notoriously quiet for the past 2 weeks but updates are on the way, I promise! Here is Laney's review of the show:

Let me begin by explaining that this show was my first foray into both the Doug Fir and watching a show to write about it later. I was nervous enough to do drugs.
The intimate venue was flattering to the music of the first band, The Golden Bears, who are good friends with Viva Voce. Though their overall sound was soft and hopeful, I found a grating edge in the untrained vocals of drummer/singer Julianna Bright. All Joel could think was "Tori Amos." At points other members of the band would exit the stage to sit on the edges, making room for the simplicity of the lead singer's voice in between bouts of energetic drumming. One of their songs borrowed from the Roxy Music classic "2HB" but none of their songs had enough draw to keep me interested.

Silversun Pickups were the band to be last night. Despite this being their last show of a 4-week tour, their energy was through the roof. As they started with "Meletonin," I found myself intrigued by the unique bass stylings of Nikki Monninger. It crackled like distortion through an old amp, really welcoming attention to Nikki's skilled bass lines. "Kick ASS!" was screamed loudly into my ear as lead singer Brian Aubert happily asked us how they sounded. A murmur of "Up the vocals!" was jokingly repeated back to us as "What? --FUCK-- the vocals? Ohhhhkaaay..." The screaming was deafening as they started "Well thought out Twinkles." It was a feast of drums so masterfully played, they sounded electronically fast. Drummer Chris Guanlao had a great stage presence, really playing for the audience, not just at them. His drums were set up at an angle and his symbols were pretty high, giving the audience a clear view of his raw energy. The third song was :Rusted Wheel," a slow and steady rock-out punctuated by dance moves indicative of crazy-mad style on the part of Aubert. Ethereal guitar musings akin to a voyage though space floated through the Doug Fir, followed by pitch blackness and exuberant cheering. "This was a nice welcome to Portland," Brian said. He continued, joking "We've been here the whole time--where have you been? Sorry about that last time. I tried to call you but you didn't answer." And they were off again, blasting into "Little Loving So Polite." I felt like I was running down the steps on the last day of middle school. My mind filled in the hand-claps that would have gone so great with the intro. The fifth song "Future Foe Scenarios" went out to "The pee-wee wee-wee," a Kevin sort of person whom they still loved despite having peed on something of theirs at some point. This song was quiet and absorbing, staggered by electrifying drum beats and singing that swayed between happy and pissed off. The sixth song was "Kissing Family." My ears are still ringing almost 20 hours later. I can't read my notes because I was slamming words onto paper so furiously. The words deafening, distortion, and talented are legible. This was quite a show. As they chatted us up before the next song, the lead singer started thanking bands they had worked with. When Wolfmother was mentioned, he smiled and said "Now that's getting ahead of ourselves." The next song, "Lazy Eyes" was to be their last. It rose to an amazing crescendo out of sheer cacophony...every one of them hard-wired into the moment, waiting to blast us away with their awesome musical power. I could not hear myself screaming in the aftermath. The crowd would not be satisfied without another. "Common Reaction" was our reward. They charged back into the chaos, and proved once and for all that music is way better when you're shaking your head.

Viva Voce had a tough act to follow. The energy of the large crowd dissapated during the short break between set-ups. The last time I saw Viva Voce, playing to a sparsely filled bar that used to be an alleyway in New Mexico, I remember thinking they were okay for a two-piece, but just a little boring. I was harshly rebuked for saying so at the time, but my feeling was they could actually be decent if they just had more people or elements. You could say I'm not a fan of minimalism or noise bands. I prefer substance to statement.

As they took their places on stage, I noticed no less than 5 guitars behind them. The first song heavily featured a wammy bar manipulated by the delicate hands of Anita. Her melodious guitar solos were punctuated by my personal favorite, the sweet sound of cowbell. The song brought to my mind images of an eagle soaring through Navajo canyons in the desert. It melted into absurdism and a kick-ass drum bit with a clean finish. Kevin leaned into the mic and said "We're Viva Voce, and that was our sound check." The second song had a great start and finish, but was total crap in the middle. The parts that I liked had invisible keyboard elements carried by Anita's back-up vocals chiming perfectly with the beat. The middle was marred by blandness and self-congrajulatory guitar playing. Next they played a song with a heavy kick-drum intro and Kevin playing acoustic guitar. In came the high hat and Anita's feminine vocals sweetly hovering above. Simple guitar chords were then added, as she struck and manipulated the notes with her wammy bar. Mr. Robinson's signing was barely audible but fun for its "bah bah bah's" nonetheless. The fourth song started off with Kev whistling and Anita's grounding vocals. Followed by searing guitar riffs. Why couldn't they just leave a good song alone? Does it have to be noise to be good? It does if you're Viva Voce. The fifth and sixth songs were a blur of distortion. It was similar to what happens to a pedal-to-the-metal attitude after 13 hours of driving. But when Anita's voice was allowed to come out, it shone. This was not the case in the seventh song, where she was being too cutesy with her voice and it ended up sounding false. Like Eagles of Death Metal fronted by Le Tigre. The 8th song was the last before their encore. "We have a theme song and this is it." The song was "We Do Not Fuck Around" and it was rendered by no less than every member of Silversun Pickups and The Golden Bears, who came streaming onto stage waving maraccas, carrying extra drum pieces, and wielding giant grins. It was fun to see them jumping excitedly and collapsing violently in the heat of the song. When it was over, I asked my friend John "How are they going to top that?" "Acoustic, no mic," he joked. Then, to our disbelieving eyes, stepped from behind the drums, grabbed his acoustic guitar, and started living John's dream, enthusiastically getting us to clap along. All in all, I was just as impressed by Viva Voce as I was the last time I saw them. A good band, but not good enough to tempt my wallet. But they don't need -my- money--as pointed out, they make "hundreds of dollars a year."

Laney Maxwell 10-28-06