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Café du Nord October 22, 2004 Review by Jake Thomas Lazarus was mid-set by the time I arrived, and the crowd was being its usual rude self (like every other time I’ve seen him play, which has always been opening for Explosions in the Sky). It was immediately obvious that there was something different and better about this set; as opposed to all of my previous viewings where it was just a the man and his guitar, this go around he had added accompanists to round out that strange, mellow freak-folk sound he has. A couple of the tracks might have almost even classified as rockers compared to his usual output, and they were my favorite tracks he performed. I dunno if his new sound is a permanent shift or just a one-off, but I liked it pretty well either way. This was the first time I’ve ever seen Explosions in the Sky as a headlining band, and most likely the only time I’ve ever seen them at an all ages show. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been so overwhelmed with wondering when/why/how are they so popular with really young kids? I’d be highly surprised if very many of the folks standing around me were out of high school; it was really effective of making me feel even older than I usually do when I go out to shows. But the band, they were terrific; they played a lot of material from their last two albums plus some of what I suppose is on the soundtrack for the movie they just did the soundtrack for, “Friday Night Lights”. They would often let one song blend into another, culminating in some sort of uber-song of epic proportions and the band looking as sweaty and tired as George W. Bush at a MENSA party. The kids ate it up; I’ve never seen so many photos taken - if you didn’t know any better you’d think some pop diva was gracing us with her presence. Here’s to hoping that EitS don’t wait a year to make their way back here to the bay. --- Read our previous Explosions in the Sky review: December 7, 2003 @ Bottom of the Hill June 6, 2003 @ Bottom of the Hill ©2004 playinginfog.com |