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Equalizer Chicago September Wrap-Up: Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Buff1 & 14KT, JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound

Equalizer Chicago — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:05:36 +0000

review by Ali Weiss
photos by Karla Svatos

It was the perfect storm. First you’ve got charismatic soul outfit JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, easily one of Chicago’s top indie bands. And they’re just the opening act. For whom? How about two immensely popular underground hip hop / soul acts from the nearby suburb of Ann Arbor, MI. Thanks to Buff1, 14KT and headliner Mayer Hawthorne and the County, we spotted plenty of Tigers gear in the house (way to rub it in, visitors!) and darkroom remained SRO for all bands. All advance tickets sold out two days before the show, a first for Equalizer, and people lined up down the block in the rain to pay at the door.

Resident DJ Johnny Kesh relinquished the turntables for this Equalizer, leaving local it up to capable DJ’s Trew and Risk to keep soul theme going in between the live sets. Some swear they saw Kesh in the crowd, but maybe that was the heat playing tricks on us. Yes, it bears mentioning that the room got sticky-icky hot with all the bodies, but that only increased the soul-club vibe (we didn’t have to dance onstage in a three-piece suit).

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound’s mix of star-quality presence and musical precision kept club goers either dancing or just staring in slack-jawed awe. In addition to Brooks’s scary-strong vocal range, the singer’s also quite the comedian. In one “soul talk” break, he asked the crowd if they’ve ever felt trapped in a relationship. To paraphrase: “You almost wish the relationship police would stop you and say, ‘Excuse me, sir, but you were doing Happily-Ever-After in a Let’s-See-How-It-Goes zone.’” Plenty of little gems like that helped push the show over the edge from great to unforgettable.

And then there’s the Wilco song. The Uptown Sound’s blazing rendition of “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” stands on par with cross-genre covers like Johnny Cash’s reboot of “Hurt.” We must shout out to guitarist Billy Bungeroth for the arrangement, which elevates Wilco’s moving toy piano notes to a cathartic brass line.

We wouldn’t want to sing happy birthday to a deaf rabbit after Brooks had performed. Luckily for Buff1, he raps. And that he did, tearing down the hand-waving house from his perch on the amps at the edge of the stage. He free-styled, bantered, and revved up the crowd for his fellow A-Side Worldwide artist Mayer Hawthorne. He performed songs off his new album, There’s Only One, but the set retained a raw, bare bones feel, where the flow and lyrics took precedence over re-creating a recorded hit. That said, Buff1 does have hits with his fans, and the packed crowd could be heard rapping along with a lot of the set.

For those of us taking a breather on the sofas in the back of darkroom, Mayer Hawthorne’s entrance beyond a sea of bodies almost took us by surprise. But thanks to a classy Ed McMahon intro, the crowd rose to its feet as the man of the hour took the stage in his signature suit and black-rimmed glasses. Hawthorne began the set with his two new singles, “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” and “Maybe So, Maybe No.” His falsetto croon in the former number played well live, and Hawthorne’s unapologetically imperfect vocals are part of his charm. He’s not claiming to approach the Otis Redding-level singing of someone like Brooks. Rather, he has an ear for soul music, writes plenty of great songs and uses his hip hop roots and crate-digging sensibilities to create a smooth, catchy sound.

Hawthorne played almost every instrument on his soul album, A Strange Arrangement, and still his band owns the music as they play. “The County” were tight, and they were game for improvisation too. After two songs, Hawthorne decided to “mix it up” and asked his band to riff on a variety of genres until settling on reggae; this led to a mini “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” reprise to a dance hall beat. Hawthorne mixed in some rapping of his own (remember, he started in hip hop before venturing into soul, initially as a joke) and his playful, relaxed delivery gives off the same carefree vibe as his singing. He also won our vote for smoothest sales pitch by assuring the men in the crowd that no lady can resist a man with a red, heart-shaped 7-inch.)

It was an Equalizer for the books, with old-school vibes in the air and vinyl on both the merch tables and turntables. We emerged from the steamy darkroom wanting for nothing, except maybe a ‘63 Cadillac to take us home.

Equalizer happens every final Friday at darkroom in Chicago, sponsored by KEXP and 312unes. A video of the September 25 show is in the works, and fans may subscribe to the KEXP Chicago Posse’s Youtube channel to get notified as soon as it’s up.

Chicago Equalizer: July re-cap and KEXP Chicago Posse Interview

Equalizer Chicago — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:00:07 +0000

by Ali Weiss
photos by Karla Svatos

Local bands Elev8tor, ODE and The Grace Lincoln Project played the monthly KEXP Equalizer Chicago at darkroom on Friday. Headliners Elev8tor played a variety of their downtempo and breakbeat music, added a guest vocalist and threw in a cover of the Beastie Boys’ instrumental “Ricki’s Theme.”

For this re-cap, we decided to go behind the scenes and speak with Stefania Rudd of the KEXP Chicago Posse, the group that supports Equalizer and other KEXP-related events here in the windy city. You can usually find Stefania at the KEXP table during Equalizer, getting names on the mailing list or handing out swag. Here’s what she had to say about KEXP, Chicago and Equalizer, which turned two years old this summer.

Ali: What were some highlights of performances Friday night?
Stefania Rudd: Some of the highlights for me included the singer of The Grace Lincoln Project’s voice. She’s the pretty sweet looking girl then she got on stage and just belted it out. Her voice was amazing like Duffy. I also thought ODE was a pretty solid band, part DeVotchKa and part Beirut. Elev8tor sounded very polished. There were several times I had to look at the stage to remind me that they were playing and it wasn’t music from the DJ booth.

How did u get involved with KEXP and Equalizer?
I started getting involved in October of 2007. John Richards and Cheryl Waters were out here for a week broadcasting live from Engine Studios, due to Chicago winning their city-to-city challenge during a pledge drive. I volunteered to help out one day and that is when I met Tobias Cortese, the main organizer of the KEXP Chicago Posse. That night there was a member appreciation happy hour followed by Equalizer at darkroom. I got to know Cheryl, John, and another DJ, Shannon. I had such a good time and really wanted to play a bigger part in the Chicago-KEXP scene. I told Tobias that I was willing to help out even more, and from that point on I had a role.

Why does a Seattle radio station have an event in Chicago? What’s the connection between the Chicago scene and KEXP?
Outside of Seattle, Chicago has one of the largest listenerships of the station. With it streaming online 24/7 and playing a variety of music from indie, to alt-country, to grunge to world music to electronica, it is easy to find something you will like. And because it’s public radio, anyone can be a member of the station and support it. I think people in Chicago, just like people in other cities that listen to the station, have a connection with not only the music but with the on-air personalities.

Every morning John Richards broadcasts from NYC [where KEXP is on the dial]. Most major cities have a street team/posse. NYC, Austin, and San Francisco do events similar to our Equalizer. KEXP also has a presence at SXSW and other music festivals. In 2008, they were a Pitchfork sponsor. KEXP also is supportive of out Chicago acts. They play Chicago artists on their station. For example, “I Never Thought I Could Feel This Way For A Boy” by The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is featured on KEXP’s Live At KEXP Volume 4.

What’s your role at Equalizers?
I promote the shows via our KEXP Chicago Posse listserv. We are also getting started up on more social networking sites. At the show I’m at the KEXP table giving out free swag (button, stickers, magnets, postcards, posters) and answering questions about the station. Just general promotion.

We get a good mix of people at the show, those who know it is an Equalizer show and come because they know a good band will be playing, or those who are there for the band and then see that it is an Equalizer show. It’s also great when someone comes up to the table to compliment the station and say they have been a listener for years. You see this light in their eyes — a genuine excitement that KEXP has a presence in their city. You especially see this with people who lived in Seattle at some point.

Any specific things you want to tell us about the bands that played the July event? Had you heard them before?
I had actually not heard any of them before. Arunas Ingaunis (manager/booker of darkroom) is normally the one who books the bands for the show. There are times when I will suggest someone or send him a manager’s contact info, but he’s the main guy in charge of booking. He has been with Equalizer from the start and also works with staff at KEXP. Overall, the bands this month were solid. They all had different styles, but as a show from start to finish it worked. Good music is good music, no matter what the genre.

Elev8tor:

ODE:

The Grace Lincoln Project:

Equalizer Chicago 10/2 recap: Takka Takka, Grammar and Elephant Gun

Equalizer Chicago — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:27:44 +0000

by Michael Turner
photos by Laura Gray

Hey there, music fans! Can I call ya Joe? Gosh jeepers, that’d be grrreat! Let’s get started then! Skip, sparkle, wink. And so it was that on the eve of the vice presidential debate last Thursday, October 2nd Equalizer brought fourth upon this continent a new line-up. T’was a line-up conceived by darkroom and KEXP Seattle and dedicated to the proposition that all music is NOT created equal and that some of the particularly kick-ass stuff deserves a special platform in this town. Furthermore, if this platform is to be sponsored by The Onion and 312unes.com then all the better. Elephant Gun, Grammar and Takka Takka all valiantly gave their performances last Thursday night so that this music scene might live, united and free (well, at least cheep). It is altogether fitting and proper that they did so.

Yep, as is usually the case in Chicago, October’s Equalizer fell on a pretty busy night. Between the Cubs playoff game and the season premier of Joe Rogan’s Fear Factor — Oops! I mean the VP debates (sorry, I get confused with all the barfing) it looked like Equalizer had the makings of a perfect storm of a suckey night in indie-town. But nay, my friends, t’was not so! As doors opened at darkroom, its murky gloom was off-set by the flicker of a giant projection screen centered over the stage displaying the arguments of two inert talking balloon animals who may one day over-see special task forces for low priority government agencies which do things that no one knows or cares about. Yet, like a hipster magnet the large sparkling surface drew them threw the door one by one and two by two and ever closer the evening’s destiny of rock!

The sounds of the newly released Live at KEXP Volume Four in studio performances became the soundtrack to the battle charade of the blue blazers and effectively spared us the competing sounds of grating “folksy-ness” or droning stream of consciousness ramblings. Most in the room stood motionless like zombies for the duration trying to keep from getting dizzy by following the closed captioning. Ironically the debate ended and the credits rolled in perfect time with the final track on the KEXP disc — Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to A Town” with his apropos refrain: “I’m going to a place where everyone has been let down. I’m so tired of you America…” repeating in an uncharacteristically quiet darkroom.

But no sooner had the giant screen snapped back up inside its hanging receptacle and the stage lights flashed on then Elephant Gun leapt into action with all 100 of their members (or so it seemed) and shook the stillness loudly to pieces. With an instant cacophony of horns, strings, and gadgety percussion devices along side traditional rock instruments — guitars, drums bass, keys, Elephant Gun played a frenzied 35 minute set that smacked any of the residual bad taste from the debate right out of everyone’s mouth and reminded us all what we came here to do.

A collection of musicians from Elgin, IL, and Chicago, Elephant Gun sound like what I might imagine to hear in a bar brawl between the Minute Men, the Polyphonic Spree and John Philip Sousa. I happen to be a fan of all three of those artists so that is a complement. Anyone familiar with their new album “KP” which they recently self released might be a little shocked to see how much they step up the intensity level in their live performance but in my experience that is almost always preferable to the other way around.

Well, good ol’ DJ Mikey Dance Panther had his work cut out for himself last week I tell ya what… Ever the conniving spotlight whore, I think MDP knew he would get a run for his money when it was announced that Grammar would be performing. Besides having one of the most accomplished and well known rhythm sections in Chicago featuring Dan Moulder (Free Space, Cracklin’ Moth, Tom Schraeder, Moxie Motive), P. Griffin Baron (Atlantic Divide, Alison Breitman, Cracklin’ Moth), John Sarmiento (Snd on Snd) and the infamous Lizz Kannenberg of Snd on Snd and “Lizzbo” converting fame*, it is well known that Grammar frontman Brent Pulse is a dapper, dapper gentleman, rarely to be out dressed.

You see, the thing about physically beautiful — nearly perfect people like MDP is that they often become quite un-nerved when they are confronted with a beauty that threatens to rival their own. It was clear on this night that Mikey did not intend to let that happen. But as MDP took the stage in his finest… um, finery to introduce Grammar to their throng of adoring fans he was visibly shaken to be stepping into this mental coliseum of his own design to be judged on points of ever so precious style by no one but his own wildly out of control ego — like a gladiator of narcissism preparing for battle. Gasp! They both wore vests… Mr. Pulse had seen and raised the panther at every detail! Tie, check. Striking yet uncommon top coat, check. Ruggedly chiseled features with seemingly unintentional day old stubble, check and mate. The bastard!

Mikey grasped at straws as he awkwardly lingered on stage offering terse and inappropriate pseudo accolades to various band members; the impressively exhausting length of P. Griffin Baron’s name and the resurgence of the “testicle issue” for example, Lizz’s relationship status, Dan’s fantastic piano skills but possible communist connections or at least closet hippie-dom. MDP was beginning to crack. He wanted to rush at Brent as he tuned his stupid guitar and tear his beautiful perfectly selected clothes to tatters but he couldn’t… no, then they would all know. And no one must ever know…so he would welcome them… yes, he welcomed and introduced them with a smile but with eyes that betrayed his mouth’s benevolence and then he receded into the shadows.

Grammar are pros. I’m stating it here if you hadn’t guessed by the litany of accomplished projects following each of their names above. All of them have played Equalizer in different groups before with the exception of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brent Pulse. Pulse has been laying low for a couple of years to work on writing and recording; playing the occasional but rare show since his departure from the acclaimed Bumpus with Rachael Yamagata. Grammar is certainly a collaborative effort but it seems to draw its primary creative juice from Pulse’s well-regarded solo material, ratcheting up the energy to his dreamy lo-fi bedroom pop a few notches. The Formula works, but I’m a sucker for a song that can stand on it’s own with nothing more than a guitar or a piano. When you can take that same song and throw a band behind it without destroying the original nuance and in fact add a dimension then you know you’ve really got something. I also like watching musicians trade gear on stage, I think it keeps things fresh and Pulse has the chops to pull it off. Brent, don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep those photos of you playing the flute out of Mikey Dance Panther’s hands. They wont end up on gayornot.com on my watch buddy!

All the way from Brooklyn New York came the main and final event of the evening. Takka Takka should be fairly familiar to most KEXP listeners by now earning some fairly regular spins of late from their new record “Migration.” Takka Takka has been building quite a bit of steam with this release and earning solid positive reviews from Spin, The New York Times, Time Out, New York Magazine and even the merchants of snark themselves Pitchfork who gave the new record a 7.2. Anyone familiar with Pitchfork knows that squeezing more than a 5-point rating out of the online alpha-hipster is no easy feat.

Takka Takka didn’t disappoint. They commanded the stage and demanded attention and darkroom succumbed willingly to their intense but whispery neo-psychedelic chimes and melodic wo-pop daydreams. Singer Guitarist Gabe Levine has a quite passion about him that looms larger than his slight bespectacled person when he performs. As any great band should do Takka puts you into a time warp when they play. You find yourself surround with and penetrated by the music to a degree that it is the only possible focus, and when it’s over you feel like it had only just started and you’re just a little bit sad. You will definitely want to see these guys again.

That was Equalizer, kids. Come back in November!

*A “Lizzbo” is a hipster boy (or girl) who has a crush on Lizz Kannenberg and yes… sigh, there are t-shirts.

Mike Turner and his partners at darkroom produce KEXP’S “Equalizer Chicago” a monthly showcase of on the verge Midwestern artists. Mike has consulted in the music industry nationally for 6+ years and currently resides in Chicago as a practicing social critic and sometimes DJ.

Equalizer Chicago 9/4/08 recap: Allá, Demilos, Bicycle Tricycle

Equalizer Chicago — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:36:42 +0000

by Mike Turner
photos by Jeremy Farmer

So, now that you are all back safely from your respective political conventions are you ready to hear about an event that doesn’t involve tear gas, “free speech zones,” teen pregnancy the words “hope” or “change” or any funny hats? Well, I hope so because none of those things were present at this September’s Equalizer Chicago and that’s what I plan to write about here… fine, maybe there were some funny hats, but that’s just a given in this town. No my friends, there was no rhetoric, grandstanding, finger-pointing, obnoxious chants of “USA!” tree hugging, heart bleeding or ex beauty-queen moose-hunting hockey moms this month. Just some trail blazing independent music from right here in Chicago that I can assure you was properly and thoroughly vetted. Come on you guys, DJ Mikey Dance Panther slipped through the cracks in the system ages ago and has been thoroughly apologized for on numerous occasions since –can we move on?

KEXP, darkroom, Goose Island 312unes.com and brand new media sponsor The Onion delivered another economically sound, energy efficient and environmentally friendly September Equalizer. With the multi-cultural sonic experiments of Allá, and the psychedelic anglophillia of Demilos and Bicycle Tricycle, Equalizer was a microcosm of a utopian future in which everyone just shuts the hell up for once and rocks out. Dig?

Bicycle Tricycle, the malleable Eno-esque musical sideshow from the arguably over-stimulated mind of Bohb Blair opened the night in their current incarnation as a trio. With Bohb on Rhoads/keys, Jason Batchko on drums, Tom Szidon on bass, and an occasional guest back-up vocalist, the three fancy lads playfully if not manically pranced through a thirty-minute demonstration of what LSD sounds like to the British. My favorite song of the whole night had to be the bouncy ditty “Drugs are for Doin’.” To those of you who think I am the worst speller to ever write for a blog I’d like to point out right now that yes he does spell Bohb with an “h”… it’s not a typo. Bohb claims to be “deathly afraid of palindromes,” an irrational fear by his own admission, and certainly an ironic one considering the name his parents picked out for him but nonetheless one that he claims influences him daily. According to bassist Szidon, Bohb will even use expressions like “LOHL” in text messages to avoid those soul sucking alphabetic abominations. Currently at work on another top-secret recording project tentatively being called “Sassy Among Such Sod,” the prolific Bicycle Tricycle pulled their set on Thursday largely from their previous five records such as their 2002 debut, the 23-song album titled “10111.” It adds up to 23 in binary… get it? BI-cycle… TRI-cycle? Don’t worry it went way over my head too. Other releases include: The Law of Fives, The Principle Induction, Real as you Believe and the most recent; Stay Foolish Stay Hungry.

Demilos were next and they saw Bicycle Tricycle’s Brian Eno and raised them one Kinks and a Sgt. Pepper. Demilos are a group of 5 songwriter/multi-instrumentalists including a pair of twin brothers (Brian and Joe Daley) who draw heavily from the experimental sounds of early Brit pop a la Eno/The Kinks/Bowie as well as American avant-garde pop maestros like Brian Wilson or The Flaming Lips and blend it with enough roots rock twang to make something that is their own. Demilos drew most of their material on Thursday from their new self released LP “Peaking Through The High Hats” which is a fantastic collection of psychedelic retro jams and lyrically driven countrified rock that quickly sneaks into your brain and demands repeat listens. My favorite song on the record and one of my favorites from their set is “Avatar,” a pitch perfect drug era Beatles-esqu homage about making a virtual girlfriend online. If you don’t already feel like a douche for being on Second Life this song will make you sweat a little. “Picking up chicks never worked for me so I’m making up my own as you can see… ” Priceless.

It was a different brother band however, that was the main event at Equalizer this month. Brothers Jorge (guitar) and Angel Ledzema (drums) form the core of the fervently buzzed about Allá which is pronounced Ay-ya for those of you who don’t know how to say tortilla. The smooth as silk vocals of guitarist Lupe Martinez is the icing on their intricate uh… sound cake (just go with it) as she deftly triggers multi-layered looping and verb effects on her voice that dramatically build and shimmer transporting the music beyond ethnic boarders into the other-worldly. Maybe they should call her “Loopay!” Har, har. har! Ok, calm down. Allá have been suddenly getting quite a bit of attention with occasional spins on alt rock station WXRT here in Chicago but interestingly they have faired even better in the national and international press earning the title “band of the day” by the UK Guardian and a profile in the trendsetting The Fader magazine. It’s the beginning of a pay off that hasn’t come easy for a group that operates quite a bit outside of the lines that typical success for indie rock bands tend to fall inside of. There is no question that the music is engaging, melodic and powerful, but for a band whose songs are sung mostly in Spanish and blend the far flung sounds of Brazilian tropicalia and bossa nova with the more current trend of electro synth-pop (think Stereolab) as well as Radiohead style experimental rock, Allá don’t fit in easily with any scene that’s out there yet. “We can’t just piggy back on any trends and get popular by proximity like a lot of other bands can” says Jorge who produced the band’s debut “Es Tiempo” out now on Crammed Records. “We’re sort of pioneers, we need to start our own scene I guess.” Jorge is right. I’ve never heard anything quite like it before, at least not all coming from one band, but I’m sure someone said the very same thing about Manu Chao at some point and that hasn’t stopped him.

The record Es Tiempo sounds phenomenal which is a really good thing considering that it took Jorge 4 years and a reported $40,000 out of his own pocket to get this labor of love completed. By major record label recording budget standards 40k may not sound like much but for your average 20 something underpaid urbanite hipster kid it is a massive accomplishment. More impressive still is managing to record at A-list rooms all over the world including Chicago’s Engine Studios and Sweden’s famed Tambourine Studios with the help of major engineers like Colin Studybaker (Iron and Wine, The National Trust) and arrangers like Patrik Bartosch (Eggstone, The Cardigans).

As great as the record Es Tiempo sounds however, Allá’s ultimate success is a fight that will have to be won in the streets and they know it. It will be a city-by-city siege in which fans are converted by the power of their performance. But their performance is a considerable power indeed. You can’t really watch an Allá show and not “get it” on some level. If nothing else Alla’s ambition and tenacity indicates that they will be around for a while –they don’t seem like the types to give up. I imagine in a few years I’ll be headed down the neighborhood Tropicalia-Krautrock-brit-pop-electro-mexican-groove lounge to grab a drink and check out a band… I dunno, what else is going on tonight?

Don’t miss Equalizer in October! Thursday the 2nd

Takka Takka

Grammar

Elephant Gun

DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther

Equalizer Showcase, Darkroom, Chicago 8/7/2008 with Royal Pines, Macon Greyson, Fetch

Equalizer Chicago — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:22:20 +0000

The honeymoon is over kiddos and after a great birthday month it was back to business as usual for Equalizer and darkroom. To Equalizer business means putting on a killer live music showcase for KEXP once per month and not expecting spankings in return every time. This past Thursday August 7th KEXP, Equalizer, The Chicago Reader and 312unes.com threw down hard as they always do with another enviable rock’n roll line up of rising stars featuring Royal Pines, Macon Greyson (in their very first Chicago performance) and Fetch. It was a heavy country-prog/punk hoe-down-show-down with a mash up of styles that couldn’t have worked out better despite the dichotomy of everyone’s respective influences. Sort of like a peanut butter and banana sandwich, I guess… but with music.

Who knew this would turn out to be such a fancy pants party! Golly jeepers, it seemed like nearly the entire staff of Bloodshot Records was there, and even the mysterious local alt-country heart-throb Tom Schraeder made an appearance to see his friends in Fetch, well la-ti-freakin’ da, Tom! Fancy pants aside, I was just happy to finally see someone at darkroom better looking then DJ Mikey Dance Panther… it’s about time. MDP didn’t seem too thrilled about it, but screw that guy — what does he even do? “Chicago’s finest MP3-J” my ass.

Fetch got things rolling first with an explosive set of jams highlighting big ballsy distorted guitars and Scott “Scooter” Schaefer’s snarling gravely vocals that conjured a mixture of Mike Ness (Social D) and Iggy Pop. Fetch was loud and proud of it and they did a great job of combining my favorite elements of early So-Cal punk with British psychedelic post punk and rootsy Americana. Scott Schaefer is the label manager at Bloodshot Records, and while watching Fetch I felt a little like I was listening to the label’s mission statement in band form if such a thing were to exist. If Scott’s musical sensibilities are manifested accurately in Fetch, then it makes sense that the Bloodshot roster sounds they way that it does with one of his hands on the wheel. Or perhaps, considering the aesthetic of Bloodshot’s roster it’s no wonder that Fetch sounds the way it does… hmm, kind of a chicken or the egg thing. How about this? If Bloodshot Records were a music box full of its various bands, the sum of all of those parts might sound something like Fetch once you turned the crank and mixed ‘em up. That’s a bit of a hyperbolic statement, I realize, but I think anyone who’s read more than one of these entries in the past will realize that’s kind of my thing. At least no one is being compared to Tibetan Circus midgets this time.

All the way from Dallas, Texas, Macon Greyson followed Fetch’s rowdy bar fight of an opening with the perfect remedy. Like a couple of raw steaks on our blacked eyes, Macon Greyson delivered a beefy set of tasty Texas style southern rock. You could tell that these guys had been on tour for a while. They were tight as a drum and locked together like conjoined twins that had been birthed on a roadhouse stage and instantly forced into musical servitude until Patrick Swayze separated and freed them with his martial arts. After an experience like that, I guess they were just like “shit, man, this is all we know how to do, now that we’re out from behind this chicken wire cage let’s go spread our special brand of progressive Southern rock to the world. Thanks, Patrick Swayze!” Armed with nothing more then their axes and an easy Texas charm they set off to follow their dreams and we were just lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them at a stop on their journey last week. I mean, I can’t be certain that’s how things went down but I have a pretty good sense for stuff like this and sometimes you can just tell by looking. So there is your hyperbole, ok!? I was just getting warmed up earlier. If that didn’t help you form an aural image, then try this. The band lists Uncle Tupelo as an influence in their bio and in the press they get a lot of comparisons to Son Volt and Jay Farrar. I’d say that’s fairly accurate: Buddy Huffman’s singing style often evokes Jay Farrar, but where Son Volt tend to get mired in dirgey melodrama Macon Greyson kick it up a notch and deliver a more toe tapping send up of Americana. But really, anything that’s good enough for Swayze is good enough for me.

So, that brings us to Royal Pines. These guys were great… but very hard to explain. Ok, I’ll try… you know how Primus really sucks? Well, imagine if they didn’t suck but were in fact actually good and all of the individual talent that its members apparently have in spades went into creating listenable music. Got it? Ok, now mellow out most the percussive clanging and jarring meter changes that Primus is known for and add some sheets of ‘verbed out guitars and occasionally countrified jangley picking. Now add a dash of The Beatles (trust me, that goes with everything) and you should have it. Does that help at all? No? Crap, I don’t know what to tell you then. Royal Pines are unique. According to their bio, their influences are “Creepy teenagers and weird old men” and they sound like “champagne in the cemetery.” I guess I can agree with those assertions, but I feel like they should also throw something else in there to indicate that they have a great energy on stage and an exhilarating effect on audiences, like… um, “monkeys in a demolition go-kart contest!” You guys, if you’re reading you can use that one, no charge.

Don’t forget to come to the next Equalizer Thursday, September 4th, with:

Demilos
Alla
Bicycle Tricycle

And as always:

Resident DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther.

photos courtesy of the Equalizer video crew

Equalizer Showcase, Darkroom, Chicago 7/16/08 KEXP Listener Party with Catfish Haven, Au & Sleep Out

Equalizer Chicago — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:07:36 +0000

review by Mike Turner
photos by Jeremy Farmer

Hi folks, I’m going to keep this short since you all might be sick to death of hearing from us out here in Chicago by now. I don’t want to run the risk of over exposure after six days of extensive KEXP coverage from “The Great Midwest” (actually no one really calls it that here) and ruin the chances that you will come visit me just cuz I’m all played out like The Jonas Brothers. I do, however, feel obligated to report to you at least a little bit on the extra special auxiliary Equalizer show that we were treated to last week in honor of John and Cheryl’s annual visit to Chicago and the first official birthday party for Equalizer! Yeah, that’s one ugly toddler but it’ll be a tough kid. For you knit-pickers, YES officially the one year mark was reached in June but Equalizer said it wanted to wait on the party until John Richards could administer that single stinging spank in person. Just imagine that for a moment will you? Got it in your brain? Good, because we weren’t able to get that moment on film… you can all relax now.

KEXP, Goose Island 312unes.com and the Chicago Reader came together one more time then usual this month — and on a Wednesday of all days, — to give us the added Equaliciousness of: Catfish Haven, Portland Oregon’s own Au, and Sleep Out. If you are thinking “holy crap-balls, that sounds like a helluva show!” then you my friend are correct but now take a deep breath and consider this: IT WAS A FREE SHOW! If you missed it, exhale into the bag. Yep, to say thank you to all of the loyal KEXP fans out here in Chicago who do so much to support the station all year, this free kick ass Equalizer line-up on the first night of the Chicago broadcast was a show of appreciation. It appeared by the jam-packed attendance last Wednesday that people felt pretty appreciated. All three bands tore the roof off of darkroom in front of an energetic and loaded pre Pitchfork crowd of music troops. DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther played their finest assortment of imported MP3’s and they even handed out a couple of pairs of 3-day passes for Pitchfork to some lucky winners without being total dicks about it. It was quite a night from what I can remember.

If you were listening to the live in-studio broadcasts from Engine studios last week then you will be already quite familiar with Sleep Out and Au and you don’t need me ruining them for you with my far-flung comparisons. I really only watch the Disney Channel these days now anyway (shit’s addictive!) so I sort of draw all my parallels to what I see there. Not just for music either, with everything…. seriously. My cable was out last week though so I went to Engine, darkroom and Pitchfork for kicks — what’s up with old people? OMG Gross! At any rate, if you missed it then golly! Go listen to them right now in the streaming archive kids, that’s what KEXP is for! So, that takes care of the first two bands and Catfish Haven is… well, they’re fawking Catfish Haven you guys! WTF!? Just check out these photos and I’ll squawk at you again next month. TTYL!

Don’t forget to come to the next monthly Equalizer coming up Thursday, August 7th, featuring:

-Royal Pines
-Macon Greyson
-Fetch
-Equalizer resident DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther

Equalizer Showcase, Darkroom, Chicago 7/3/2008

Equalizer Chicago — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:12:57 +0000

As we move perilously closer each day to the immanent KEXP live broadcast invasion of Chicago this month I am reminded more often just what a vital music town and indeed music community Chicago is right now. I can’t think of another city of this scale (and I have lived in quite a few others) where the social structure surrounding live music is as large, interconnected and supportive as it is here. Maybe I just notice this more in the summer because everyone is so darn happy to be alive after making it through the wretched Chicago winter that their “juis de’ vis” compels them to be out every night either creating something artistic themselves or encouraging others in their efforts to do the same. It’s like everyone is thinking; “crap, I may only have four months to live before possibly freezing to death waiting for the late North Ave bus after work in November. I’d better make it count… lets drink some beers and listen to some tunes, I love you man!” I guess its also just easier to see who’s at your shows when it’s light longer and folks aren’t buried under the ten layers of clothes it takes to go anywhere during the rest of the year.

Last Thursday’s Equalizer sponsored by KEXP, The Chicago Reader and 312unes.com was such a damn music scene love fest that if it weren’t for the kick-you-in-the-teeth “rawk” of Sound on Sound and Ramova, the swift and punchy pop hooks of Vamplifier and the don’t-you-know-how-many-cool-other-bands-we’re-in?-(no?…oh, really? Darn…) sonic experiments of Website I would have sworn there must have been a bowl of dosed Kool-Aid around there somewhere. In a unique twist to KEXP’s monthly Chicago showcase, each of the bands last week represented a different one of Chicago’s more established alternative press/media outlets: The Chicago Reader, The Onion, Time Out Chicago, UR Chicago and Chicagoist.com all had an entry. I was expecting at least SOME serious shit talking and maybe even a knife fight or two to go down (is it really so much to ask for a little knife fighting?) but the darkroom pre-show BBQ one the back patio was like a hipster Melrose Place episode (the Christmas show where everyone gets along). To continue that metaphor, DJ Mikey Dance Panther was definitely Heather Locklear’s Amanda Woodward character. Anyway, ya know… everyone knew everyone, everybody was laughing, smiling and chatting like old friends (because they are), trading band war stories, hangin’ out, gorging on charred encased meat products, drinking cheap beer and talking about up coming shows blah, blah, blah. It really brought a tear of joy to my ever so tight pants. So, you’ve got the who’s who of not only Chicago’s alternative media community but also the local hipsterati who they write about each week all under one roof + beer + grilled meat, which by art school math apparently = unicorn. The preceding equation isn’t really germane to my point but it is an interesting fact.

What I am trying to illustrate here is that three Tibetan midgets from a Cirque de Sole act clad in matching unitards could have strolled onto that patio at any point and it somehow it wouldn’t have seemed out of place to see a skinny tattooed fellow from some band stand up and hand them a PBR saying “hey guys glad you could make it, you know everyone right?” And THAT’s what’s so great about Chicago right there, because they would, and everyone would know them too and the after party would be in their fucking blimp orbiting the Sears tower! I just like the atmosphere of inclusion here even if I tend to kick it in the balls sometimes.

So, fast forwarding a couple of hours, Sound On Sound representing Chicagoist.com and in a round about way UR Chicago magazine was first to accept Thor’s mighty challenge of rock and they picked up his divine gauntlet with a flourish befitting the seasoned rockers they have now become. It was a triumphant set indeed for a group who has really proven itself in battle over the last couple of years and come into it’s own as a staple of the Chicago music scene. Snd on Snd slashed and bashed their way through 40 minutes or so of up-tempo crunchy attitude-caked goodness that sent us all straight back to high school (or at least the early 90’s) before we were too cool for fun and you’d crowd surf at a damn wedding if it would make things interesting. Bassist/journalist/artist manager/music bizz entrepreneur extraordinaire and perennial object of scenester desire Lizz Kannenberg didn’t even have her instrument plugged in for the first song but she sure played like it was! No doubt enforcing John Coltrane’s assertion that it’s really all about the notes you don’t hear — wa, wa, wa, waaaaaaa! But seriously, the notes we did hear sounded killer once her bass rig was up and running. Jon Sarmiento followed dexterously in the footsteps of fellow front man/drummers Phil Collins, Don Henley and that guy from The Romantics further destroying the stereotype of the tone-deaf drummer. Kidding! Sarmiento doesn’t sound like someone who scores Disney movies but he is a good singer — so there you have it. I did like The Romantics though, for real…

Guitarists Kyle Ryan and Vel Vetri get “mad props” as we used to say back in ‘93 for trading some scorching licks while their muscular tube amps easily tore through darkroom’s cavernous gloom and virgins and warriors alike danced the ancient dance of revelry and reverence to those purveyors of that which rocks. And thus it is written that on the third day of the seventh month of the year two thousand and eight, Sound on Sound made the rock and the rock was good!

Not a band to take a challenge of rock lightly, Time Out Chicago’s own Ramova (named after the Bridgeport neighborhood’s old Ramova Theater) was next in line to sip from the sacred chalice of rock, and drink deeply they did my children. For the uninitiated, Ramova with the dual vocal attack of bassist January Overton and Guitarist F.R. Hilbun sound something like that brief collaboration between The Plasmatics’ Wendy O Williams and Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister. With ex Grackles drummer Nicole Roach triangulating this lethal trio Ramova is a lean teen fighting force. By the way, none of them are teenagers… I just like using that expression. But fight valiantly they did! They fought the fight that only rock can wage (the good one) against all that which does not rock. Thor and Dio smiled down approvingly from Valhalla as they shined their enchanted light of rock upon Ramova so that all might witness its glory… of rock. Amen.

After a typically cringe inducing introduction by DJ Mikey Dance Panther who, clad in a clingy lavender colored v-neck t-shirt had his “heavage” on full display for all to nauseatingly gaze upon; the immortal, rock thirsty and pecan pie obsessed quartet Vamplifire took the stage to represent The Chicago Reader. FYI: “heavage” is a new English word awaiting official induction into the dictionary and it was brought to my attention by one Mr. Pat Kenelly the attending Equalizer sound engineer. According to Pat the etymology of this word is quite simple yet multi-dimensional. Essentially it is man cleavage or “he” cleavage as the case may be. This is a phenomenon mostly blamed on the popularity and proliferation of American Apparel’s ridiculously deep V t-shirts among anemic urbanites. However, as Pat points out, this phenomenon often elicits a “heavingly” vomitous reaction in it’s victims as well (read witnesses) so, there is a poignant duality in it’s meaning. In defense of DJ MDP however, he did report that the hyper-feminine lavender color of his oh so delicate shirt was the result of accidentally washing a previously white v-neck with his purple “manties.” The tragedy of it all!

Thankfully, Vamplifier was able to stifle it’s inevitable fits of barftastic spewage in the face of Mikey’s style hiccup long enough to deliver a tight set of melodic but razor sharp pop rock that had all of darkroom bouncing to the spongy and jangly interplay of Nord electros and electric guitars. Sadly DJ Johnny Kesh was not so lucky and the darkroom sanitation crew had to be called. Vamplifier walk that thin line between sugary and agro that I absolutely love when done correctly. Thankfully, they succeed and evoke a stylistic mash up of something between Sloan and Nirvana fused with personalities that seem much bigger than their stage. Singer guitarist Scott Shehan has a very cool choppy vocal delivery style a la Brit Daniel of Spoon and when keyboardist Jane Hanna ads her smooth, contrasting back up vocals to the mix it is easy to understand how they became “world famous in Belgium.”

Well, you know it was only a matter of time before a band would form and call itself “website.” Apparently Website was the band to do just that. And now we have Website… the band. Something of an indie “super group” by some standards Website brings together Guitarist Sam Zurich of Make Believe, Cap’n Jazz and Joan of Arc and drummer Ryan Rapsys of Euphone and Ambulette to create a shoegazy, and occasionally meandering collage of sounds and textures that spiral off of some genuinely driving grooves with digestible hooks. Naturally, they chose Equalizer to debut their project for the first time in front of a live audience. That’s right, last week was in fact the very first show for Website, but their smoldering performance made it clear that we would be hearing much more from this outfit soon enough. To anyone in attendance who really dug this band at Equalizer I hope that my prediction is true because ironically Website does not have a um, website… save one underdone myspace page with one picture of a cat and no recordings and there is really no other information about them that I can find.

So, who won this epic battle for Chicago’s rock supremacy you ask? Who among the arbiters and tastemakers of the alternative press community can hold their heads high in triumph and wear the crown of rock for their respective media outlet!? That I am afraid you can only know by looking deep within your hearts my friends. You see children, believing in rock and roll is a lot like believing in Jesus, and wizards and Eskimos –if you truly believe, then its real to you and that is all that matters. If you pray hard enough to Ronnie James Dio and Thor I think you’ll find the answer. Now get out there and sacrifice a goat you little scamps you’re making me all misty. And don’t forget to set the carcass on fire after it’s bled dry!

Also don’t’ forget there is an extra special second Equalizer this month which just so happens to also be the KEXP listener appreciation party! Yay! Featuring:

Catfish Haven
AU
Sleep Out
And as always resident DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther

It’s a free show kids!

Equalizer Showcase, Darkroom, Chicago 6/5/2008

Equalizer Chicago — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:45:06 +0000

photos by Laura Gray

Well, kids, they did it! Despite the player haters, the “media monkeys and the junket junkies with their plastic pantomime,” a few confusing dreams about David Bowie’s nipples in outer space and the occasional Debbie Downer, KEXP and Equalizer Chicago made it through an entire year in the Midwest. Even though the official Anniversary party is this July (coinciding with KEXP’s Chicago broadcast), Thursday, June 5th, marked one whole year that Equalizer, with the support of KEXP, has been showcasing the bitchin-ist independent bands this region (and beyond) has to offer. Some lucky bastard last week even won a drawing for 3 day passes to the Pitchfork Music Festival, further proving that Equalizer is indeed a night you shouldn’t miss if you live in Chicago and dig music.

I’m not too proud to admit that I was one of the doubters early on. When my (super hot) secretary interrupted my morning musings to bring me the press release last spring announcing this proposed endeavor, I exclaimed loudly to her, saying first, “NEVER INTERUPT MY MUSINGS! I found you on the Victoria’s Secret runway and I can put your perfectly formed ass back there, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?” — English is not her first language so you simply have to yell sometimes — and second, “Now just hold the phone a moment! This will never succeed! How can a listener-supported independent radio station all the way from Seattle expect to gain popularity and support in Chicago through a monthly series of local concerts designed to display their eclectic and passionate programming format as well as their firm commitment to quality independent artists from the area!?” “Hogwash!” I snorted, “How dare you bring me this shit? Do you truly believe that just because The Chicago Reader and 312unes.com are sponsoring this that it has a snowballs chance in hell? DO YOU!?” I then threw my crystal tumbler of scotch into the imported Welsh stone fireplace in my office across from my massive Nicaraguan Cocobola wood desk and picked up the fresh mug of coffee next to me shrieking, “this is shit too! This is shit coffee and I will scald your sickeningly pretty face for making it, now GET OUT!” I hurled the boiling beverage at her as she fled the room rattling something in Russian — or Chinese… whatever.

My point in telling you all this is that it seems that I was a little dramatic and thick headed in my assertion that Equalizer would fail and I am coming clean to all of you now to say that I was wrong. I was wrong when I wrote that op-ed piece for The New York Times entitled “Equalizer Chicago, this is shit and you are shit” and I was wrong when I made John Richards cry on Oprah by saying things like “Chicago doesn’t care about you or your stupid taste in music.” And “cut your hair hippie!” I didn’t realize how sensitive the little guy was… that one made me feel bad.

At any rate, that gilded parchment scroll (my fax machine uses parchment) sitting on the sterling silver Tiffany’s “press release platter” on my desk gnawed at me for weeks and I just couldn’t bring myself to burn it like I do most other things which displease me. So, under duress, I went to the very first Equalizer last June and to my surprise it was pretty good. To make an already long story somewhat shorter, I have continued going back each month and reporting on them as you have all seen here and gradually my blood lust has turned to admiration of this proud beast of rock as it has matured and cut its wide swath through Chicago’s music community with the impunity and fortitude of a Spanish bull. So there you have it, Equalizer and KEXP are a success in the Midwest. It’s been a whole year and people keep coming out and making this thing happen month after month and volunteers and listener support continues to grow out here meteorically so its final. I was wrong. The thing about globally renowned super geniuses like myself though is this: Since we are almost never wrong about anything, when we are wrong it’s only about really big important things that we are super-duper way wrong about, not little insignificant day-to-day stuff. I like to take comfort in that.

Two Loons For Tea, Silences Sumire, Ceiling Stars, and The Western Front stacked the deck at darkroom last week with a typically innovative Equalizer bill. As we have come to expect from those wacky cats at darkroom you never can tell what they will throw at you when you walk through those doors but you can bet it will usually blow minds.

The Western Front all the way from Iowa City were first to warm up the crowd at darkroom last week with a muscular electro-tinted rock sound that brought to mind Death Cab For Cutie’s more hook laden material. The Western Front created something of a musical cyborg on stage using racks of synths and computers along side guitars, tube amps and percussion toys. It was particularly amusing to see the keyboard player playing keys while simultaneously blending drum machine beats with acoustic drums like the kick drum underneath his keyboard. I hope his resume mentions “excellent at multi-tasking” because that can’t be easy.

After some expectedly mediocre DJ-ing by DJ Mikey Dance Panther, Ceiling Stars took the stage in their first officially promoted show as a new band. Ceiling Stars brings together members of acclaimed local band “Tenki” Garron Gaston and Sean Burke with singer guitar player Joe Phillips, Samantha Axton and awesome lap steel player “JK” to create a delightfully dreamy and satisfyingly twangy pastiche of alt country and shoe-gazey lo-fi pop lullabies. Although they did not have a physical CD on hand that night the band was performing in support of a full length downloadable demo available on their website. No one would have guessed that last week at darkroom was one of the bands first shows in front of a paying crowd and they seemed comfortable and confident delivering their set.

In a departure from the more structured song oriented arrangements of the previous two bands, Silences Sumire changed directions with a dramatic and moody 40 minutes of instrumental, electronic jazz infused psychedellia. Thomas Faulds and Charles Gorczynski armed with laptops and a saxophone crept onto the darkroom stage under a cloak of darkness after the lights were blacked out in preparation for the duo’s accompanying visual projections. Without warning a swirling flurry of lights and sound that was at times vibrant and up beat and at other times dark and smoldering with a building computerized glow flooded the bar and surprised the audience. With nods to experimental electronic artists such as Autechre and Venetian Snares as well as the more organic free jazz freak outs of John Coltrane Silences Sumire tied it up with a bow and handed it to those of us not hip enough to know how to hear it all in one place.

The main attraction last week however, was the Seattle ensemble Two Loons For Tea who have been garnering critical praise from all over the map with their new record “Nine Lucid Dreams” out on Sarathan Records (home to Feral Children and The Purrs). Two Loons for Tea is primarily songwriting duo Sarah Scott (singer) and founder of Sarathan Records Jonathan Kochmer (guitars and various other instruments) along with a rotating cast of auxiliary musicians on instruments ranging from vibraphones (don’t call it a big xylophone… seriously) to percussion and strings. Two Loons for Tea create melodic but ambient soundscapes that seem to spontaneously pluck hooks from thin air and build a pop scaffolding for a song before anyone even realizes there is construction underway. Sara Scott’s expertly honed voice conjures shades of Mazy Starr, Etta James and Billie Holiday and can instantly flip from pitch perfect note surgery to delicately deconstructed melodic meandering. The music is fluid and gives one the feeling that these songs could and might spill into any number of directions at any time yet they always manage to contain themselves just enough to be delicious without making a mess.

Congratulations, Equalizer, you’re one year old and still not sucking. July looks like it’ll be a flagship month with an unprecedented two Equalizers! They are rolling out the red carpet again for KEXP’s visit so stay tuned!

Live Review: Equalizer Showcase, Darkroom, Chicago 5/1/2008

Equalizer Chicago — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:29:00 +0000

review by Mike Turner

photos by Ryan Sweeney

Well, kids — another Equalizer has come and gone and last week was another rock and roll circus. There is only one month to go before reaching the official one-year mark of the Midwest’s finest independent music showcase and thinking back on all of them trying to pick a favorite is like trying to decided which Olsen twin is a more horribly wretched waste of whorish carbon. I’m saying that it’s hard, people… hard and pointless. Every Equalizer is a horribly wretched waste of whorish carbon and each Olsen twin seems to somehow represent the best of Chicago’s vital and ever evolving independent music scene. How do those teen billionaires do it!? May 1st was no exception to this rule with KEXP, The Chicago Reader and 312unes.com bringing us Dundrearies, Otter Petter and Scale Model to fill that empty void inside us left by our recycled-plastic-on-demand, super-sized-children-of-divorce-society. The alcohol helped too I guess… oh, the glorious alcohol.

As I have been promising you inter-nerds lately, you will yet again be able to see the highlights of this Month’s Equalizer right here in magical “booze-o-vision,” so check back in about a week. It should be done fermenting by then.

So, after about an hour of self-indulgent MP3J-ing by the vaguely tolerable but always-handsome DJ Mikey Dance Panther, the evenings rocking commenced with the perfectly intoned Scale Model. I say “perfectly intoned” because this is a band that plays hand made guitars…which they made…that’s right, by hand. Seriously. Singer Meg “Rox” and guitarist/master luthier Dave Johnston are a married couple in business together making guitars called well, “Scale Model guitars” of course. And weather or not you like their band you won’t find anyone saying that they sounded out of tune. No joke, those are some fine-ass instruments this band brandishes made from exotic rain forest woods that I can’t even spell let alone pronounce. Obviously it’s worth the sweat because Scale Model sounds clear as a bell and tight as a drum (insert more musical metaphors here) and Meg’s solid, forceful voice cuts through the very big sound they spill from stage in a way that brings to mind a punked up Grace Slick. This months Equalizer actually doubled as the release party for Scale Model’s brand new EP “The World Is Falling” so, of course darkroom cut open the ceremonial goat hanging in front of the stage and we all danced in it’s blood. What? Oh… that’s just a Chicago thing I guess. Whatever — don’t act so superior.

After the goat entrails were disposed of in the traditional manner of setting them on fire in the smoldering pit of rock’s eternal flame, the two foot thick remote control limestone doors at the foot of the stage slid shut with a slow groan and the crowd gathered over them for the next set by Otter Petter.

Seriously, you guys, WHAT!? It’s really not that shocking. It’s just a thing we do out here to pay homage to the gods of rock…I’m sure you have your own odd ways of worshiping them. A little tolerance, please! Can we get on with this now? Thank you!

Otter Petter is an irresistibly catchy five-piece pop band that evokes a less maudlin Death Cab for Cutie or perhaps a more shimmery and accessible The Rentals via their synth inflected hooks and harmonies. With a string of EP’s already under their belt, and a band name that I’ve always hopped is an innuendo but never had the marbles to ask about; Otter Petter is on the verge of releasing their first full-length album sometime this year. The band blasted through a spot on set of sugary danceable grooves last week that kept their substantial crowd squealing, shouting and moving. Yes, there was squealing. Some of that squealing may have come from me however. Ok, a lot of it was from me. It was probably anytime Jo Jo (A.K.A. Jobot the love robot) their very foxy keyboard player started singing… so I have a loud squeal, sue me.

A bittersweet end cap to a typically awesome evening of independent rock n’ roll at Equalizer was the quite literally final performance by much loved local band Dundrearies. After a number of years in the trenches, the guys have finally decided to part ways to explore new projects and they chose Equalizer to be the forum for their swan song. Luckily for those in attendance last week Dundrearies pounded through 40 minutes of high-energy melodic guitar rock like it was the last time any of them would ever see a stage. Chris Carroll is a magnetic front man and vocalist who summons a light-hearted but potent swagger that lies somewhere between Gregg Alexander of The New Radicals (don’t pretend like you don’t have that single) and Fran Healy of Travis. Dundrearies manage to sound somehow distinctly American and distinctly British at the same time, I don’t know how that’s possible but it seems to be a best of both worlds scenario because they pull it off. Guitarist Jeremy Spanos is exhausting to watch as he turns his performance into a work out routine by jogging in place for a good chunk of each song. My God, man! Isn’t it fatiguing enough to kick out the jams under those hot lights for close to an hour? Do you really have to go that far to make me feel out of shape!? I had to take a beer break in between each song because I was losing too many calories just by watching.

“Disappearing Ink” from the Dundrearies E.P. Valentines and Sedition was my favorite song of the night for sure and it made me a little sad that this band is breaking up. Go to their MySpace page and listen to it right now! It totally scratches that itch for mid 90’s post-grunge-round-2-British-invasion pop along the lines of Blur. If that song had made it onto a sound track of a movie like Road Trip or Just Friends, these guys would be famous right now.

Coming up for the next Equalizer, June 5th:

Two Loons for Tea
Silences Sumire (CD release party!)
Seiling (featuring DJ Joe Phillips)
The Western Front
As always, resident DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther

Live Review: Equalizer Showcase, Darkroom, Chicago 4/3/2008

Equalizer Chicago — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:11:59 +0000

review by Mike Turner
photos by Jeremy Farmer and Brent Kado

Darkroom, Ukrainian Village, Chicago, IL, Thursday, April 3rd, KEXP Equalizer, holy crap… did someone set off some kind of bomb that destroys everything that isn’t awesome? With the caliber of talent on hand last Thursday night, it sure seemed like it. Or maybe somebody cracked open a piñata full of flubber during sound check, transforming the perfectly competent and entertaining line up at darkroom into musical super geniuses with the power to blow minds… and fly. Alas, although I wish I could blame my injured sanity on the supernatural forces of flubber or weapons of mass awesomeness — remember the 90’s when “mass” was an adverb, i.e. “mass cool”? Yeah, me neither — I am afraid that it is merely the case that these artists are really that good and I should never pick up a guitar again. Cameron McGill & What Army, Brighton, MA, Needers & Givers, and the infamous PA band The Shackeltons packed darkroom to the gills last week with a jubilant multitude of Chicago’s best looking music enthusiasts. DJ’s Johnny Kesh and Mikey Dance Panther continued their monthly argument about whose ipod goes where and The Chicago Reader and 312unes slung their respective swag to the buzzing masses.

If you read last month’s addition to Equalizer Chicago’s monthly coverage here on the KEXP blog then you would have seen the very first “motion picture video” in a new series chronicling this intergalactically renowned event. Well, hold onto your flux capacitors my little cadets because a team of space wizards is working on another one at this very moment and it will be available right here for your consumption soon! Apparently the magical-scientific-gospel-astro-spells they are using take a little more time then just writing this crap down. Also, I think the baby Jesus has to approve it or something. Just hang tight and check back in a couple of days. I’ll remind you.

At any rate, for all of you “readers” out there who are wringing your hands at the steady demise of the written word and the subsequent “retardinating” of the American — uh, talking thingy in the wake of all this new “tekmology,” just pop your monocle back in and calm down! Luckily for you nerds I am a master of all twenty-six letters of the alphabet and I will continue to employ all of them like a freaking word ninja despite the fact that it is way cooler to watch stuff… happy?

^{photo by Jeremy Farmer}

So yeah, that’s right, there were FOUR bands at Equalizer last week –- that’s one more than usual. Four bands, two DJ’s, a virtually limitless supply of 312 beer (among spades of other alcoholic sundries) and FINALLY temperatures above 50 degrees in Chicago! All of this made Thursday April 3rd the ideal springtime night to come out of our Midwestern hibernation caves for spellbinding performances by some of Chicago’s (and Pennsylvania’s) finest musicians.

As the clock struck 9pm The Shackeltons, all the way from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on their first national tour, wasted no time in making darkroom their own. With the stage adorned in scattered flowers, old telephones and white Christmas tree lights singer Mark Redding leapt to the microphone amidst the marshal and sinister groove of “Your Movement” already in progress thanks to his band mates and barked the opening lines. It doesn’t take long watching this band to see why they have already racked up such an impressive resume of critical press. Both Spin magazine and Rolling Stone along with numerous smaller alternative press outlets nation wide have lauded The Shackeltons and marked them as rising stars.

The arrangements are minimalist but driving and powerful and Redding’s impassioned declarations, wails, shrieks and occasional croons add weight and depth to each slashing chord. There are times during their smolderingly intense set that feel like what an indie rock religious revival might be like if such a thing could ever actually exist without the heaps of irony that would ultimately make something like that utterly pointless. Indeed Redding even cites gospel music as a major influence in his songwriting. With a mic clutched tightly in his hands along with a bouquet of flowers and sweat pouring down his face as he points to someone in the crowd begging them (seemingly on the verge of tears) to feel something, anything you can almost see the brimstone burning within him. It’s the secular kind of brimstone of course but that doesn’t change the fact that Redding is a natural preacher regardless of his motivation. I may have been saved that night myself but with all of the alcohol I can’t really remember.

^{photos by Jeremy Farmer}

It was Needers & Givers who were charged with the daunting task of following The Shackletons blazing performance, and lucky for us they were well equipped to do so. In fact, they chose Equalizer as the night to officially release their debut album on Loose Tooth Records, The Other, and their own posse of celebratory revelers were on hand in support of the occasion adding to the already boisterous atmosphere. The core of Needers & Givers is made of three brothers. As a matter of fact, despite their respectively distinguished international musical careers Ian, Dylan and Christopher Hoffman all performed for the very first time on stage together last week at darkroom — apparently this month’s Equalizer was full of milestones.

Even in their infancy as a band, Needers & Givers have received critical praise from the likes of Innerview Chicago, Amplifier magazine, and NPR, where they were recently featured in the popular “All Songs Considered” program. Although the band’s stage presence is understated, their musical chops are undeniable and they succeed in delivering a set that gently and effectively weaves together many of their stated influences such as The Zombies, Wilco, The Beatles and Weezer. Ian Hoffman’s voice has a smoothness that floats above the unpredictable changes in meter and melody generated by his band, and it seems to lie tonally somewhere between Elliot Smith and James Mercer of The Shins.

^{photo by Jeremy Farmer}

Well, some say that it was merely that springy seasonal balm that got under the skin of Mikey Dance Panther, and others maintain that he was foolishly attempting to out dress the infamously dapper Cameron McGill who many attribute with the advent of the “hobo chic” look (think Charlie Chaplin meets Bob Dylan). However, regardless of the actual reason, Mikey certainly did arrive at darkroom that evening in a three-piece pinstripe suit strutting around and preening like some kind of southern dandy with ADHD. Of course he was effortlessly trumped by the clairvoyantly stylish McGill as soon as he entered the venue. McGill glided into darkroom looking like Daniel Day Lewis in a film playing a coal miner on Ralph Lauren’s ranch and you could just see the envy bubbling to the surface in Mikey’s eyes as he realized his spotlight had just been extinguished. Foiled again, Mikey Dance Panther — you beautiful megalomaniac son of a bitch, foiled again!

^{photo by Brent Kado}

It was true, Cameron McGill & What Army looked fabulous as usual and they backed it right up by sounding every bit as amazing as their reputation warns. They were a tight and well-oiled folk rock machine last Thursday night, (evidently one that kills hipsters if you note Cameron’s guitar) no doubt a result of the countless dues this group has paid touring nationally and even internationally. Cameron has become a staple of the Chicago and greater Midwest music scene playing venues large and small, even including slots at Lollapalooza, Milwaukee’s Summerfest and the now bygone “The Late Late show with Craig Killborn.” Every time I see Cameron live I am reminded why I love the simplicity of singer songwriters at their best. No matter what the permutation of his line up is at any given show; weather he be solo, with a rhythm section or even sometimes with his “Quartet Offensive” string section, Cameron’s songs stand on their own with the singularity of classic works by legends like Lennon, Dylan or Steve Earl. Yes that is a tall claim but I am willing to stick by it.

The delicacy and power of his compositions with as little as one acoustic guitar and as much as a 10 piece backing ensemble is never obscured and it is the type of songwriting that causes others to either start composing themselves or give it up completely. I was particularly excited to see Katie Bracken singing with Cameron at Equalizer this time around which apparently is a non-guaranteed treat for McGill fans since she doesn’t tour with the band. The dynamic she brings to his songs with her warm breathy vocals is absolutely spine tingling. Cameron McGill and What Army will be starting a nation wide tour soon with Indiana’s Margo and The Nuclear So and So’s, so look for them in your town this summer, you won’t be sorry –- unless you have terrible taste in music.

^{photo by Brent Kado}

^{photo by Jeremy Farmer}

Brighton, MA all the way from, wait for it… right here in Chicago — not Massachusetts as it turns out, were the end cap to this evening of exceptionally talented artists. Of course they were nothing short of exceptional themselves and in fact seemed to be an ideal closer after Mcgill’s powerful set. BMA have also been quite an industrious group of artists in the last year generating an impressive cannon of local press from the likes of Newcity magazine who named them one of their 10 artists “on the verge” and The Chicago Reader.

Originally formed as something of a side project to Matt Kerstein’s previous band Scotland Yard Gospel Choir (who played Equalizer back in October) it eventually became his focus and BMA’s new self-titled EP has been accepted enthusiastically in Chicago. Simple songs with layers of sound and emotional, insightful lyrics appear to be at least part of the formula for BMA and that formula clearly resonates if the intently rapt Equalizer audience who seemed to hang on every word last week was any indication. Many Wilco and Jeff Tweedy comparisons were overheard in reference to Kerstein’s charmingly lazy vocal delivery. I suppose his slightly scruffy appearance may have fueled that whisper a little as well. Whatever, chicks totally dig that shit.

^{photos by Jeremy Farmer}

Check out more photos from the night on the KEXP Flickr page.

That was Equalizer, folks! Only one more in the Pipe before the big one-year anniversary in June! On deck for Thursday, May 1st:

Dundrearies
Otter Petter
Scale Model

Don’t miss it!