Yet another Thursday night in March where I had the opportunity to see a touring band that I was really excited about. This one in particular was a doozy, featuring the UK's Field Music. They are a band who combines Paul McCartney's more complex tunes with XTC at their poppiest, and one that I have been obsessively loving on since early 2007 thanks to their seriously perfect sophomore masterpiece, Tones of Town. Megabonus that, like Vivian Girls, Field Music's Brewis brothers were incredibly nice and approachable people.
My favorite band in Detroit, who also are hands down the BEST band in the D, Zoos of Berlin kicked off the night with a bang. Their set predominantly consisted of tracks from their fantastic debut full length, Taxis (which just so happens to have been my third favorite album of 2009). While this wasn't the tightest set I've seen of theirs, per usual they completely nailed live standards like "Century Rail" and the always fun "Electrical Way." It was a surprise to hear the deep cut "Countess Lessons." I'm not sure I've seen them play that one. Thankfully they didn't leave out this new song that I've seen them play a couple of times. It's one of their best yet, and takes their moody mix of jazzy, jangly post-punk and Bowie-esque kraut rock in a brighter and poppier direction. Great things are ahead, methinks.
Having nothing to do with talent, but everything to do with energy level, Field Music should have headlined this bill and The Clientele should have played second. Alas, this was not the case, and Field Music played a too short set because of it. Said set still featured plenty of highlights, along with a few slight disappointments. First of all, they played two songs from David Brewis' School of Language album, Sea From Shore. Sure, I really enjoy that record, but there are many Field Music songs I would have rather heard. Secondly, Tones of Town was CRIMINALLY overlooked. I was banking on them playing maybe three songs from it, and would have been satisfied with that, but they played only one. And, the worst possible one at that, in "Gap Has Appeared" (which is still a great song, but every other song on Tones of Town would have translated better live).
Enough complaining. Their set was still insanely impressive. The two dudes they brought along as extra musicians on the tour played their parts perfectly. It was a blast watching the Brewises interact with each other in all their charm and brotherhood. The crowd was treated to a display of some of the most mind blowing talent I could imagine, as the brothers frequently traded places between drums and guitar. Both are absolute pros at each instrument that they play (Peter also played electric piano), and I was especially impressed watching them sing insane melodies while playing intricate and quirky as hell drum beats.
The band's latest full length, Field Music (Measure), was the point of this tour, so obviously that's what most of their set was made up of. "Them That Do Nothing," "Effortlessly," "Clear Water" and "Let's Write a Book" all rocked even harder than on record, and it felt good to be able to see how these complex parts are played by wonderful humans. On "Measure," the gorgeous string parts were played on guitar, and Peter's flowing lead part truly showed off his technical prowess on his "secondary" instrument (drums being his "primary"). This was one of the three top moments of the entire set, the other two being when they opened and closed with rousing renditions of "If Only the Moon Were Up" and "Tell Me Keep Me" (both from their debut self-titled record), respectively.
In spite of putting me in the mood to sleep, The Clientele still put on a good performance. I am not familiar with as many of their records as I would like, but their latest, Bonfires on the Heath, was my 37th favorite album of 2009. They were tight and really quiet. I was glad to hear the masterful slow pace of the title track, but even more so the upbeat, almost funky feel of "I Wonder Who We Are," which was one of my favorite songs from last year (#58, to be precise). I look forward to going backwards and checking out their older material. At times, The Clientele make me think of a darker, modern update on The Byrds, and I am way into that idea right now.
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