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Last night a bevy of Chicagoistas were at Schuba’s for the Tomorrow Never Knows mid-winter fest. There were about an equal number of bands. TNK is giving us those hardworking bands, like minor leaguers, who are practicing the fundamentals in the hopes of one day making the big time.
Starting the night off were Eagle Seagull out of Lincoln, Nebraska. They have been likened to Arcade Fire and those comparisons are dead on. As we listened to their lovelorn lyrics with driving chords, all topped off with an orchestral background brought to the limits by the live violin, we envisioned those albums where aging rockers show off their artistry by playing their greatest hits with the London Philharmonic.
A Chicago-via-Phoenix band, Skybox, was the second band of the evening. These boys took the stage by storm with a ballsy cover of Tom Waits’ “Bone Machine” complete with the vocal stylings perfectly aped by Tim Ellis. We thought to ourselves if this was for real and would his voice last, then they burst into a train-chugging country beat for the next song. A song written by a cockroach that started off as a children’s song, but turned into a stoner jam, came next. Very ADD. After that the music was the stuff that great stoner jams are made of — atmosphere, weird sounds and noise without much direction or end.
We enjoyed Headlights the most of any of the bands last night. Erin Fein’s Bjork-sounding voice perfectly complements the happy pop that they play from Kill Them With Kindness. We found ourselves lost in the dreamscape swaying back and forth, but the band added some oomph to the sound, ending the set with stronger beats and volume to almost make the indie crowd dance. Almost.
French Kicks were the headliners, the reason why we were there. The guys eventually got all their gear to the stage, along with beverages, and started playing their set. We listened for the sophisticated layering that they are said to be known for, but all we got was simplistic sounds and by far the most artless percussion we have heard in a long time live. Before we are forced to start freaking out about the Elaine-like dance that lead singer Nick was affecting to convey emotion, we feel it is best to just stop.
These bands are making strides and are out there working their butts off to make it to the majors, but overall we were left with the feeling that they just need a little more time working the fundamentals and waiting for that perfect song that will catapult them to the big leagues. We’ll keep an eye on these bands because each of them tends to play the kind of music we like to have on our iPod for those long CTA treks and, of course, because Tomorrow Never Knows.
Thanks to Olivia Leigh for taking the great photos above. Check out the rest of her pics at her Flickr stream.
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The French Kicks weren't into it, and neither was the crowd. Headlights on the other hand... I'm listening to their album right now :)
My date for the evening had to get going, but we decided to stay for at least two of the French Kicks songs, and, well, that's all we stayed for.
I love, love, love Headlights, and they were actually the band we came to see. However, we were standing in the front, and I don't know if there was something wrong with Erin's mic, but we could not hear her at all, which made it a bit disappointing. Super cute, though, and I'd definitely go see them again.
I loved Eagle*Seagull. Awesome.
Their mics were messed up for the first song - I think they upped the sound after that and it was a little better.
I stood in front of the sound board most of the night, including Headlights set. Their sound was muddied for almost all of it. I rarely experience sound problems at Schuba's though so I'm not sure what was up, esp. since all the rest of the bands that night sounded just fine. Love the album though.
Eagle*Seagull felt like Devo + Roxy Music / Arcade Fire. Skybox was a jangly, crazy noise and I enjoyed them much more than I thought I would. Both bands are definitely worth watching.
French Kicks? If I wanted to see a boring version of The Changes I'd...well, I'd go see French Kicks again.
I'm looking forward to Saturday.
The grammewr, in this post that someone wrote is atrocoius.
No really that was awful. Lern to read good morans!
Matty
pot=kettle=black=you
Maybe you didn't get the multi-layered use of irony in my post.
Or maybe they understood that typos and grammar are two different things?
"They"? Ah, the accidental humor of chicagoist writers. You've been interchanging pronouns in posts for so long that you can't help but sound like a 5 year old when making a simple correction. It's a safe bet that comments are written by individuals (me, she), not groups of people (we, us, they, them). When a writer here uses "we" to refer to your own opinions, you sound like an idiot, or the queen of england. i'm not sure which is worse.
It's interesting that you would use the phrase "sound like an idiot" for reading something.
Are you kidding? Not only was that not a Tom Waits cover, it was nothing remotely close to "Bone Machine", which is, incidentally, an ALBUM not a song by Tom Waits. It is, however, a song by The Pixies, which it also didn't sound like. Love the site, Chicagoist, but if you're going to let people judge other people's art, a basic working knowledge of the genre ought to be required. (not to mention basic high-school writing skills.... "we thought to ourselves if this was for real"??)
i think it's because the other bands got soundchecks and headlights didn't. i thought the sound was bad from up front.