Hey everyone! I’d just like to sincerely apologize for how absent I’ve been this past week. I’ve been pretty subdued by bronchitis since Sunday, and having to take care of work along with exams all while being crazy sick has been tough enough. I’m making a pretty steady recovery, however, and am marking my return with this ol’ Showtime! post here :) Thanks for sticking with us! —Elan
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I think I’ve started almost every Showtime! post in the past month or so with something along the lines of “this was one of the craziest shows I’ve ever been to,” and there’s been some truth to that, but last Friday honestly every last show I’ve ever seen in my entire life was put to shame.
No joke, The Sounds along with openers Semi Precious Weapons and Foxy Shazam completely rocked the house, just scroll down and read this craziness…
Foxy Shazam
So, I walked into the venue about halfway through Foxy Shazam’s set to find what basically summarized the band’s entire set: The keyboardist looked like he was having sometime close to a seizure while playing, occasionally bringing his foot up to pound on the keys as well— and somehow, it sounded good. More than that, it sounded awesome.
These guys were about as nuts as you could ever imagine. Along with their crazy key-man, they also proudly sported a second singer/trumpet player who also doubled as a footstool for the singer towards the end of the show. The singer, I also should add, kept doing these amazing acrobatics with the mic stand, throwing it towards the ground, catching it with his foot and launching it back up into his hands to wail something epic into it. Oh, and in the last song, he definitely pulled out 3 cigarettes and smoked them all at once.
Really, the best way I can summarize all of this is with a video I posted on the You! Listen! Now! YouTube page which you can find down below. (Sorry about the lack of quality, I’ve been shooting the pics and videos for these past few shows on an iPod Nano and, though it is pretty cool that it can do this at all, it doesn’t do it incredibly well…)
Just check this madness out:
Semi Precious Weapons
I honestly had no idea that Semi Precious Weapons were going to be playing that night— once Foxy Shazam (epically) finished up, I was convinced The Sounds would be on next, so I was pretty surprised when Semi Precious suddenly started off instead.
Oh, and then there was the fact that their singer Justin Tranter was dressed in a ripped up nightgown, a thong, and high heeled boots. I guess that was a little shocking too. And the lyrics to their opening song? “I can’t pay my rent but I’m fucking gorgeous.”
Yup. That happened.
The band had an extremely great time, with an energy very close to the madness in that YouTube video up above. There was definitely a time during their set where the bassist held his axe in front of him by the strap and just kicked it for about a minute. Badass? Badass.
I must admit, I enjoyed Foxy Shazam slightly more than Semi Precious Weapons in a musical sense; Semi Precious definitely had some pretty gnarly guitar lines, but the talent could’ve gone to a few more places than it actually ended up going.
As far as showmanship, however, the band knocked it out of the freaking park.
Tranter worked the crowd quite a bit with his flamboyancy going all out that night. In fact, check out the mid-set costume change in the pics down below. Yep. That happened too.
Really, how to sum these guys up was when, towards the end of the show, Tranter announced to the crowd that the band would be opening for Lady Gaga as she tours later on this month. I thought about it for a second, nodded my head and gave another “Yep.”
The Sounds
Utah never fails to surprise me with its fanbases.
During Foxy Shazam and Semi Precious Weapons there was a pretty decently sized crowd gathered to watch the ensuing awesome, but for Swedish-born band The Sounds, the venue was filled to the freaking brim. It was one of those shows where, if someone in the back moved in one direction, the rest of the crowd would get shoved towards that general area with no way of stopping themselves. You know, those shows.
As soon as the band came onstage, however, everyone completely forgot about how uncomfortable they might have been; this was the moment they’d been waiting for, and they were gonna enjoy it as best as they could.
And holy crap did The Sounds enjoy us back. It always seems odd that Salt Lake City, Utah, would be a great place for bands, but when groups like this play, they’re greeted by a wall of energy from the crowd that you can literally feel. And so, as this stop approached on their tour in honor of their new album “Crossing the Rubicon”, which was released last June, the band just got “giddier and giddier”.
Singer Maja Ivarsson gave the Clean Air Act a giant middle finger and smoked throughout the show, pointing the mic into the crowd to take drags, and every time she’d do that, the audience would scream the words verbatim into the mic.
And so, during the encore the band decided to give back to their fans, inviting a random guy from the crowd to play cowbell for the group on their song “Song with a Mission” (Definitely my favorite song by the band….lucky jerk). Then, during “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, every last member of the band leaped into the audience and crowd surfed. That night was freaking magical :)
These guys are really having the time of their lives with the band. Their new album is a very tasty addition to their discography, and the songs translate live very well (they ended up playing around half the album during the show). You can check out a few songs from “Crossing the Rubicon” down below, along with the full setlist from the (eargasmic) show. Come back soon guys, I’ll be there guaranteed :)
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- Crossing the Rubicon
- Queen of Apology
- Seven Days A Week
- No One Sleeps When I’m Awake
- Hurt You
- Midnight Sun
- Rock ‘N Roll
- Night After Night
- 4 Songs & A Fight
- My Lover
- Beatbox
- Dorchester Hotel
- Painted By Numbers
- Underground
- Living In America
- Ego (with Electric Drum Solo)
- Intro- Tony the Beat
- Song With A Mission
- Hope You’re Happy Now
And thanks for coming back to read everybody! Once again I’m really REALLY sorry this has taken so long, I’m gonna kick bronchitis in the teeth.
But hey, this weekend will be full of some AWESOME posts, what with Regina Spektor playing tomorrow and then Dirty Projectors the day after that, both at In The Venue! I pinky promise these shows will be up here MUCH faster this time :)
I love you all, thanks for sticking with us!
