by Seamus Simpson (text) & Laurie Scavo (photos)
I went out to Spaceland last Thursday to see what ended up being one of the best shows by a touring band in quite some time. I walked up full of anticipation to see one of the great and sometimes overlooked bands of the Saddle Creek label & Omaha music scene. The lineup: Cursive, promoting their new album – Mama, I’m Swollen - and Modern Memory.
When I first moved to LA six years ago, the first show I saw in a larger venue was Cursive. They played The Henry Fonda Theater and were touring for the Ugly Organ LP. It was hands-down one of the best and first memorable experiences of my LA experiment.
Little did I know that the show March 12th would be just as good as that first experience...
The line was a block and a half long around the parking lot, the obnoxious electronic billboard spewed bad ads for Virgin Airlines Australia and Mexican porn. Perhaps worse were the bands advertised at the newly built Nokia Theater blaring out at me with amazing intensity? For the life of me, I can't figure out why people would still see bands like Third Eye Blind, Papa Roach, and Three Doors Down, but that's a quandary for people with more time than me to figure out.
There was a good mix of old and young, new wave, emo, rockers, and stoners – a better mix than I ever would have expected to show up on a Thursday night at Spaceland. This was the first time in years out in LA that I went to a show and saw no one I knew. It made the night feel that more special for me. After getting establishing a tab with a drink in hand, I started to relax after dealing with the grueling line inside. I met up with my photographer Laurie and we spoke of past Cursive shows we had both attended. We both openly wondered what show tonight would offer us. I established a good place in the center of the room and started to listen to the opener Modern Memory. The band had a neat stage set-up: there was a black out on all the stage lights, while each amp and the drums were under lit by dark blue lights. It gave the stage an eerie yet intimate feel.
The first song started off well with the drummer playing the guitar and both the bass player and second guitar player playing various noise/minimalist keyboard parts. It was a beautiful way to start the evening. Modern Memory then went to a traditional look with all players at the right spots. Their set was tight and traversed the gambit of soft to loud with a lot of strong emotion thrown in for good measure. The singer had a bit of a Brian Molko quality to his voice in that it strained a bit at times but still fell in the realm of singing. The drums were fantastically locked down in great rhythmic patterns with the bass player leaving both of the guitars t float gently over the bombastic beats. All and all, a good way to start the night off.
I retired for a smoke and a shot to prepare to be dazzled by might of one of Omaha’s best.
The band came out one by one and slowly started into "Butcher the Song." This song is great on the album, but seems to take on a life of its own live. With the anger and pain seeming all the more real with each plaintive cry, I was struck by Tim Kasher’s ability to gain so much emotion through each use of variance in his voice. The band then ripped through a breakneck version of "Dorothy at 40" segueing into a crooner, off the new album, From the Hip. During the show we were treated to no more than three songs off Domestica, including my favorite "The Martyr." It was quite the treat.
There was a mid-set break where lead Tim Kasher spoke of his new album (released on the 10th of March on the Saddle Creek label) and did a small speech of self-doubt that seemed to run inline with his song writing and personality. I was pleased to note an indie rock band playing with Les Pauls instead if the usual Fender Twin & Telecaster combination that seems prevalent with most indie combos.
The band played for about an hour before exiting the stage, but of course the crowd was not going to let them off that easy. The crowd, myself included, screamed our little hearts out and stomped on the ground in an attempt to make sure the band came out and finished what they started.
They of course obliged and kicked the encore off in style by ripping through a roaring version of "Art Is Hard" – a staple of their set since the conception of the album The Ugly Organ, tearing into "Big Bang," "Who Needs Who The Worst," "Gentleman Caller," a great song off the new album called What Have I Done, and finishing off with the amazing "Radiator Hums."
As a Cursive fan, you could not have asked for
more than to be subjected to a classic cross-section of songs from every album
in their collection. You felt the pain and longing of the older material mixed
with the hope of the new. I saw a band treating LA fans to a great show by
tour-tested players in a club that could not really hold them. It was one of
those shows that stick with you – a chance to see something great that does not
come around often enough in this town, despite all the great bands here. It’ll
be in my top five shows by the end of the year. I can just feel it.
See more photos on Radio Free Silver Lake's FLICKR.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Maria
http://memory1gb.com
Posted by: Maria | August 01, 2009 at 01:07 AM