The last couple nights have been wrought with no sleep accompanied by extreme business. Friday included some painting of a wall or two so I was covered in paint when I get home that night and all I wanted to do was lay down on the couch and watch Gladiator. Not 30 minutes in I get a call from a friend telling me that Sunset Rubdown is playing tonight and that he’s going to go and they are leaving to go down there pretty much right then. Just that day I was thinking how excited I was for the show and was wondering when it was and hadn’t heard anything about it so it was probably next week sometime. So I hang up the phone, stare at my roommate, swear some and without showering and still covered in paint I gathered myself and headed out. ANY other band at that moment save Radiohead at the Troubadour and I probably would have just stayed in like a little girl and cuddled with my blanky. That all being said, I forgot my camera in a fit of annoyance and rushing out so there’s no photos and I didn’t write down the set list of this show either. I just wanted to talk about it and let you imagine how good Spencer looks playing music.
First of all, I don’t like the El Rey. For those who haven’t been there it’s far away in snob Miracle Mile, the parking sucks, the venue is a weird boxy room with a weird floor thing happening in the center, and the sound usually isn’t that great. Regardless, you got to go where the party is and Friday night Sunset Rubdown was the party. We did have to get through the opening acts first, which is usually a chore, and this was no exception. The first band Magic Weapon, a duo keyboardist and drummer, weren’t THAT bad and had the right idea, just didn’t quite execute it right I thought. It was Johnny and The Moon that was the rough one. The singer of Johnny and The Moon, Dante DeCaro, also plays second guitar end extra percussion in Wolf Parade. I don’t want to get into it too much, but he should just really really stick to what he does in Wolf Parade and leave it at that. So, I myself will leave it at that.
This was one of those concerts that is perfect timing because Sunset Rubdown is currently my favorite band and Random Spirit Lover is currently my favorite record of the year. The amount of diversity contained in that record is like nothing I’ve really heard before. There’s fast rock-ish songs, a yee old Decemberist-like rock jig, circus music, acoustic songs, and yes even some Danny Elfman-esk sounds and melodies. Live they hold nothing back on executing all these sounds and songs. One of the most complicated things Sunset Rubdown does is have a LOT of changes in a lot of their songs, including weird tempo changes and weird timing. The drummer and also apparently founding member of Magic Weapon, Jordan Robson-Cramer, is a maniac and really keeps it together and then some. During the show I often would admire what he was doing simply by playing drums. Then I realized he sometimes played with one hand and his other hand would be over on a keyboard. Then later on he would play guitar and be equally as good on that too. They even added a drummer/bassist for this tour which made it all that much more special and full. Unfortunately because the El Rey isn’t so great, the sound was a bit quiet, but either way I still felt the energy of the music.
The musicianship of Sunset Rubdown is up there with some of the best I’ve ever seen. Some of the guitar and keyboard parts are extremely difficult. I don’t know how anyone can play what they do sometimes, let alone come up with it. I’ve been saying for a while now that Spencer is one of the best keyboardists I’ve ever seen live, and then he sings complicated melodies on top of it. It’s pretty much the ulitimate pat your head and rub your belly you could achieve. He is far far from any novelty as far as being a musician and songwriter goes. They played everything from all over their short but amazing catalog, including spicing it up and adding different versions of some of the songs. They even played a brand new one which left my mouth hanging open long after.
Bottom line, get Random Spirit Lover and see them live, you’ll be far from disappointed. Here’s the dates for the rest of their tour:
10/23 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10/24 Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe
10/25 Vancouver, BC @ Plaza Club
10/26 Victoria, BC @ Logans
10/28 Calgary, Alberta @ Broken City
10/29 Edmonton, Alberta @ Velvet Underground
10/30 Saskatoon, Sask. @ Amigos
10/31 Winnipeg, MB @ Royal Albert Arms
11/01 Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
11/02 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
11/03 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
End Scene,
Dan Tana
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