you don't spell it, son. you hear it!

Late of the Pier tear Chicago a new one

Hard to believe it was only last Saturday when Late of the Pier infiltratred Chicago and kicked the city’s ass like no other. Back in February when I first heard the band would be making waves across these great states of ours,  I was shocked by the venue they would be playing (Congress Theater– 4000 capacity and notorious for horrible sound) but it all made sense once more details about the show were revealed. Unlike most of the other shows on their first U.S. tour, Late of the Pier would be playing Chicago as part of Branded, the first show in a series “[presenting] both breakout and established acts, and [fusing] together electronic, rock, hip-hop, art, fashion, new media, technology, and culture” (source). Dj acts Deadmau5 and Crookers would serve as the night’s headliners, with Late of the Pier and The Whip (and a gaggle of local djs) acting as “support”.

Yeah, Chicago definitely got  the short end of the stick on this one. But alas, beggars can’t be choosers and getting to see and hear even 10 seconds of Late of the Pier live was more my little synth-loving heart could ask for. 

After the three longest dj sets of my life and a band whose name I can’t remember but who I had never been happier to see because they were actually playing INSTRUMENTS (no matter how badly), The Whip took to the stage and played as best they could considering the sound problems that plagued their mic and keyboards through the entirety of their half-hour set. The crowd seemed too intoxicated to notice any problems with the sound, they jumped and happily threw their arms in the air when Mr. Whip Frontman told them to do so.

More sound and equipment problems made the change up between The Whip and Late of the Pier almost an hour long, meaning we all had to stand through yet another godforsakenly long dj set from lord-knows-who. Finally, the music stopped and the lights went out. The next half hour of my life was a blur. They kicked started the party with “Space and the Woods”. Faley wasted no time, jumping on Ross’ drums and driving the crowd into a frenzy. Potter, dressed in a sequinned gold top, worked up the crowd with his signature dance moves while Sam tried his best to sing through faulty microphones. Eventually becoming aggravated with the lack of decent sound, he began kicking the monitors off  the stage and into the photographers pit (the biggest and most irritating photographers pit in the world. seriously, more irritating than the one at Aragon Ballroom). Some saw it as a childish, temper trantrum but that’s exactly what it was not. Late of the Pier is the kind of band that want to give their audience the best performance possible, if something like shit sound is going to interfere with that then the band will, and pardon my French, fuck shit up. It was glorious. Sam kicked a monitor here and a second monitor there. He flipped over his keyboard and jumped on the stand, opting to play it vertically like it was no big deal. After jumping into the crowd and successfully infuriating the Congress Theater security team even further,Sam and the boys closed the set with “Bathroom Gurgle”, leaving the stage in shambles and the crowd wanting more. Perfect.

Setlist: Space and the Woods / Heartbeat / The Bears are Coming / VW / Focker / Bathroom Gurgle 

I took a minute from my lunatic-dancing and screaming and managed to record VW (and a bit of Heartbeat), for memories sake. Love party. 
 
 

I can only hope they return sooner rather than later. At a better venue. With shiny new songs that tug at my heartsrings and make my body dance.

Oh, I didn’t care for Crookers or Deadmau5 so I didn’t stick around. Doubt I missed anything.

April 18, 2009 at 9:45 pm 1 comment