Common Loon Plays the (Practically) Empty Bottle
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 30, 2009 7:20PM
Common Loon poto by Lisa Janes
If you didn't make it to the Empty Bottle last Sunday night to see Common Loon perform, you and the rest of Chicago missed out. Recently, there's been a lot of talk about this Champaign-based indie duo - they were featured as one of Metromix's Local Bands That You Should Know and are releasing their first full-length album, The Long Dream of Birds, in February 2010. So we were surprised to find that less than thirty patrons showed up to the usually bustling music hot spot, especially since the show cost a measly $3. And with openers like hometown favorite Slow Gun Shogun and up and coming Color Card, the venue should have been brimming with the usual blend of local music supporters and Pabst-drinking hipsters.
The night started off with Slow Gun Shogun, a country-meets-punk rock project headed by A.J. Martin, playing their signature gritty, garage band blues. Despite Martin's passionate performance, the crowd didn't even give him a chance. Most patrons gathered around the bar and talked amongst themselves, barely glancing at the stage. We admit the bartender did tell an engaging story about a certain dark corner of the bar that has some strange magnetism for vomit (we're not telling which one), but it breaks our hearts when great music goes unnoticed. On the other hand, the few who did appreciate Slow Gun Shogun's session had a more intimate and undisturbed experience and could just close their eyes, sway to the rhythm and get lost in the moody riffs and existential lyrics.
Color Card took the stage next and pulled the crowd in with their charmingly off-kilter experimental beats. You probably haven't heard much of this local young trio, but they create a solid sound - a unique blend of cacophonous synth, heavy bass drum and delicate, often murmured vocals. And the singer sure does know how to shake a maraca. Nowadays, it seems more and more difficult to tell one struggling indie band from the next, but Color Card brought an unforgettable enthusiasm to the stage. They actually seemed sincerely grateful to be performing, and they had the crowd hooked with their sweet, dweeby charisma that could tug at anyone's heartstrings. This is one band that really puts forth the effort, and they're sure to start popping up in venues all over the city.
But Common Loon was truly the main event. They mellowed out the crowd with hypnotic harmonies that have both a Midwest indie feel and a hint of easygoing West Coast surf-pop. Guitarist/vocalist Robert Hirschfeld played dreamy, yet distortion-free riffs, and drummer/vocalist Matt Campbell served up eccentric, pedal-heavy drum beats, while backing tracks provided the warm drone of a synth. They debuted some songs from their upcoming album, such as "Everybody Knows," a cheesy number that had the crowd slow dancing under the romantic lights of a disco ball. But the highlight of their set was, strangely, a cover of Madonna's "Material Girl." Aside from being a fairly dead-on rendition, they played it with more passion and gusto than any of their own songs. In all, they gave a satisfying performance, but their sound lacked the dense complexity of their recorded work, a forgivable flaw considering that the studio allows them to add more layers to a track than any two-man band can possibly perform live. If you haven't experienced their music yet, listen to Dinosaur vs. Early Man and you'll know just what we're talking about.
Local, low-key gigs like this one remind us that a damn good show doesn't require overpriced tickets or an A-list lineup. They offer an intimate and organic experience with bands that may someday be selling out venues at ten times the ticket price. So next time you hear word of a dirt cheap show featuring obscure bands, give it a chance. Maybe one day you can say, "I saw them way back before they were big." And who wants to miss out on some guaranteed future gloating?