Audio By Carbonatix
Nylon Magazine Summer Music Tour Featuring Patrick Wolf
Granada Theater
June 30, 2009
Better than: Sitting at home reading Nylon. Maybe.
Check out our slideshow from the show, too.
London-born multi-instrumentalist Patrick Wolf definitely wasn’t shy last night at the Granada Theater, as he gallivanted around the stage playing a good mix of songs from all four of his albums. Wolf was joined by three other acts, Jaguar Love, Plastiscines and Living Things, on the Nylon Summer Music Tour.
First on the bill, Portland-based duo Jaguar Love. Although Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato are most commonly known for their role in Seattle-based hard-core band The Blood Brothers, the duo’s new hook-driven tunes went over well last night despite a small turnout.
Next up, Plastiscines. The all-female French band was very pleasing to the eye, with their matching haircuts and “rocker chick” personas. The girls seemed to be having a lot of fun onstage. While their performance was entertaining, and the quartet could certainly strum a few notes, their overall aesthetic and sound was more high school talent show than rock n’ roll tour.
Sure, there were a couple half-decent guitar solos, but Katty
Besnar, lead vocals and guitar, spent too much time crawling around on
the ground in a sexy kitten pose, practically screaming: “Look at me,
take my picture!” The whole thing looked a bit put on. Towards the end
of their set, Besnar brought out a tambourine for their rendition of
Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” finally getting the
meager crowd to clap along with them. Following the cover, the girls
wished a very happy birthday to Patrick Wolf (yesterday was his 26th)
ending their set with “Bitch.”
After a very long sound check, St. Louis boys Living Things appeared
on stage, each member dressed head-to-toe in black, accompanied by two
female backup singers perched in the left rear corner of the stage
(also in black). Lillian Berlin, lead guitar and singer with overly
teased hair and very high-waisted black pants attempted to round up the
crowd with a bold attempt and powerful delivery, but no real response
from the crowd seemed to be happening. In fact, there were numerous
conversations taking place around the room, and for the most part
people seemed genuinely disinterested. This disinterest continued until
the band’s high-energy delivery of “Oxygen” — it was their best
performance all night and it had people in the very front row clapping.
Even the girls from Plastiscines came out and bounced around in the
crowd.
Wolf opened his set with “Vulture,” which was the first single released off his new album The Bachelor.
True to form, Wolf started off his performance glamorously dressed in a
sleeveless one-piece jumper, and a cloak that made him look something
like a giant vulture. Mid-song, Wolf dramatically lowered himself onto
the ground where he lay, in a posed position, still belting out the
lyrics. Then, Wolf shed his cloak, picked up his electric guitar and
chanted out ” Oblivion” howling as the song shifted seamlessly into
“Bluebells,” of which he delivered a whimsical rendition. The song was
just one of many songs he played from his debut album, The Magic
Position.
Following “Bluebells,” Wolf worked his way over to a keyboard for an
intimate moment where he sat there and tinkered away on the keys
singing “Enchanted.” No glitz, no glamour (well, maybe a little
glamour, since it is, after all, Patrick Wolf) just him. The show was
laced with stunts, as Wolf scaled the right rafter of the stage before
diving into the crowd, but his music remained the main focus.
For last night’s encore, unlike those in some of his previous shows on this tour,
Patrick Wolf didn’t strip down to his birthday suit — even if it
happened to be his birthday. Rather, the freshly 26-year-old strutted
out onstage in a “Don’t Mess With Texas,” shirt ending the night on a
very high note with “Tristian.”
Personal Bias: I do not appreciate being personally called
out by Plastiscines front girl Katty Besna, for not clapping along to
one of their meh Songs, especially while I was clearly taking notes.
