Re-Viewed: OK Go at the Metro
By Julene McCoy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 21, 2005 6:14PM
Chicagoist last saw OK Go when the first cries of "next big thing outta Chicago" were heard and were not that impressed. Friday night at the Metro, however, it was possible to see why those cries are being heard again.
OK Go are a band that is not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve and they let those influences show from the 2nd song "No Sign of Life" which was very Pixies-esque especially the backing vocals and chorus. We also gleaned signs of Material Issue and Billy Joel, but most often the Pixies. Before "Let It Rain" began the banter that would show Damian Kulrush's personality while hopped up on some serious caffeine. Damian claimed to have visited Starbucks six times that day and at one point admitted to almost throwing up on stage from the coffee overload.
"A Good Idea at the Time" was the song where OK Go dropped all their nervous energy and really gelled showing their own colors with a great bass line carrying the tune. Next up was a cover of "Prove My Love" by the Violent Femmes. "Television Television" revealed even more of their punk influences prior to jumping into "Get Over It" the single from the self-titled album.
The stage decoration was sparse with only a couple of sheets hanging up from which projections of textiles were displayed. This starkness contrasted with the attention-to-detail paid to what each of the band members were wearing from the dark pin-stripe suit to the Angus-style blazer to the larger cuffed floral shirt. Although, all of this was at times obscured by over-zealous fog machine use.
The crowd responded to the magnificent cowbell work in "Do What You Want" right before the band exited the stage. At least five roadies prepared the stage for the encore. OK Go re-entered the stage to go on a tirade regarding encores and how that they would no longer perpetuate that tired cliche where the fans must wait to hear the single by declaring that they would play no more rock-n-roll that evening.
Instead, donning new outfits they did the dance that has been downloaded over three million times "A Million Ways". And that was more than worth the price of admission!
Chicagoist hopes that OK Go can let themselves shine this time through the next big thing hype and not get caught up emulating the formula of how other bands have made it. They have the talent to do this and shouldn't be scared to break away from how the suits think it should be done, because when OK Go do their own thing it's so readily apparent that they should be stars.