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| Èlánky
- jiné jazyky |
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02/05
Boston herald review
Message: Frames let it all hang out
By Christopher Blagg
Friday, March 4, 2005 |
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Irish bands always seem to have a
flair for the dramatic. Snide and ironic indie-rock posturing just doesn't
fit into their equation. Following in the giant footsteps of fellow heart-on-sleeve
rockers U2, the Frames brought their emotionally charged dynamics to a
sold-out Paradise Wednesday night to the delight of a devotional crowd.
Despite coming from across the ocean,
the Frames must have felt right at home, with Irish expats outnumbering
the locals about 10 to 1 in the swamped audience. The Frames' new release,
``Burn the Maps,'' the band's first on a major U.S. label, attempts to
level that ratio. Kings in their home country, the Frames have inexplicably
struggled to gain a foothold here. Part of the problem is the band's inability
to capture its captivating live performance on record. The Frames simply
explode onstage, and Wednesday night was no exception.
The Dubliners began the night with
an atypical set starter, the brooding and downcast ``Caution to the Birds,''
its soft/loud dynamics foreshadowing the rest of the night. ``Keepsake,''
a moody ballad from the new record, followed, the tune's whisper descending
into screeching dissonance by song's end.
The dark mood was lightened a bit
with the lovely pop song ``Lay Me Down,'' a tune singer Glen Hansard prefaced
with a hilarious story about buying a cemetery plot for his girlfriend
as a romantic gesture. Listening to Hansard's between-song anecdotes was
a treat in itself, the naturally gifted storyteller spinning yarns with
ferocious wit.
Just like their steadily building
song dynamics, the Frames crafted a set that carried an almost frightening
momentum, each song raising it to new, emotionally draining levels. The
exposed nerve-endings of Hansard's unhinged vocal howl on ``Fake'' and
the desperate crunch of ``Pavement Tune'' struck a powerful chord with
the rapturous crowd. Their participation on the latter song became so extreme
that Hansard left the microphone to conduct their vocals.
Coming out for its first encore,
the band returned to its thunderous approach on the slashing guitar majesty
of ``Revelate.''The finger-snapping a cappella harmonies of ``Devil Town''
quieted even the most obnoxious beer-swillers and gave closure to a triumphant
night.
Engaging and spirited singer-songwriter
Mark Geary opened the show, his similar brogue and passionate delivery
aptly prefacing his countrymen's set.
Philadelphia & Washington DC
Message: The Frames @ the North Star
Bar in Philadelphia and @ the Black Cat in DC
The Frames are a band that can do
no wrong, it seems. For the first two gigs on the American leg of their
tour, they played relatively small venues, only one of which was sold out,
without Colm Mac Con Iomaire, the musician that fairly defines the Frames’
sound. I remember one drunken Hoboken evening when I stumbled up to Colm
and, slurring badly, told him I believed that he was the Most Valuable
Player in any rock band anywhere in the world, bar none. So it’s hard to
imagine The Frames without Colm’s soaring accents (when he took sick on
an American tour some years back, the band hastily enlisted Margaret White
from Sparklehorse to fill Colm’s shoes).
But there they were, with Simon Good
of The Mary Janes added as another guitar, with no violin in sight. And
it seemed not to matter. Rob Bochnik, with e-bow in hand, took Colm’s lead
parts when needed, and Simon furiously strummed at the high end of the
fret to build the wall of sound that famously define The Frames.
Glen was in fine form on both nights,
basking in the glory of a band hitting on all cylinders. This is a front
man who can kill us with his confidence – he’s not afraid to play the rock
star at times (even though it’s played a bit tongue in cheek) and whose
voice now matches the majesty of his songwriting.
Starting with Keepsake, a song that
builds to crescendo and back again, the band was able to capture us from
the very start – “Maybe it’s all we can’t take / Keeps us always returning.”
From there to Caution to the Birds and Dream Awake, to a killer Finally,
highlighted by Glen’s ferocious “I love it so far” repeated as a mantra
for all of us.
The songs from Burn the Maps tend
to be dark and moody, somewhat less accessible than those, say, on Setlist.
But in concert the songs seem less moody somehow, and the transition from
Finally to the sing-along Lay Me Down, was effortless. The stunning What
Happens When the Heart Just Stops continues to be a concert highlight,
even without the dog story.
Joe Doyle seemed to step up more
vocally at these gigs, and his singing may be the most underrated aspect
of the band. He and drummer Johnny Boyle were great together, and Joe’s
stunning Hotel Lounge at the end of Fake was a true highlight - "Are you
living in the night? / Cause I can tell you have a lousy imagination.’
Just wonderful.
For the first encore on Saturday,
Glen started by saying that, by all accounts, it had been a good gig so
far, but they were going to do the number one band no-no, to introduce
a new song in an encore. It was Bad Bone, and it was just great. And then
a scorching Revelate and then off again for beers, to return with Red Chord,
which this time quoted from Here Comes the Night and Heyday.
Both nights the band ended with Devil
Town, with all of us happily finger snapping away, admitting we were vampires
in this Devil Town.
A word about Mark Geary, who is opening
on the tour. He played short sets both nights, but he was just fabulous
both nights. In fact, in Philadelphia, my friend Otto turned to me after
Mark’s set and wondered whether he had just upstaged The Frames. He did
not, of course, but he has a great solo presence, and his voice does justice
to his great songs. He did Adam & Eve both nights with an amazing female
vocalist whose name I wrote on a bar napkin but lost somehow. He teasingly
introduced Gingerman on Sunday, as “About Glen? I’m not saying.” And Glen
returned the favor by quoting from It Beats Me – “Hail Mary, motherless
grace” – before charging into Revelate. I kept hoping that Glen would join
him for Midnite Sun, but it was not to be. There was a little problem with
chatty bar crowds both nights, but Mark was able to persevere through the
background din and charm those of us paying attention. I can’t wait for
his solo tour later this year
DC last night
Best gig I've been to in a long time
- the lads were on fire last night - I am very, very hoarse
I don't know how many people in the
crowd were irish butit seemed like a lot - even Mark Geary who I've never
heard of got a great reception but The Frames were magnificent - a bit
of a slow start with at least 3 and maybe 4 songs from the new album which
all have this start slow, end in a maelstrom of guitars type structure
which works quite well on the CD but was a bit much for the ears at the
Cat (probably the loudest gig I've been to at the Cat and thats saying
something) - the sound was also not great for the first few songs and they
had a lot of feedback probs
for guys who don't like the Cat they
seemed to be having the time of their lives up there - Glen never stopped
smiling and goofing around and chatting with the crowd, half way through
Glen left and the rest of the lads did a great version of Sabbaths War
Pigs
by the end of the night they could
do no wrong and they knew it - at least 3 encores, including a blistering
version of Revelate, and a note perfect cover of Where Is My Mind? |
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