We Are Wolves = Total Solide
Belated We Are Wolves post Part 2
As I mentioned in earlier in another post (Part 1), the night began with an extended DJ set by me before Swim Swam Swum got up on stage to strum their guitars. Everyone seemed to arrive during it. Alex, We Are Wolves' manager (also acting as tour manager as a driver couldn't be found in time) appeared about a half hour in saying they'd just arrived in town.
Nathan showed up not only with his vinyl, but with his friend Mark who acted as a superb projectionist, projecting video throughout the night onto the white wall ahead of the DJ set up as Nathan spun. Over the top for such a small gig? Yes -- in the best way possible! It was awesome!
Of course we talked about his no-show to my night of noise. All is okay. He thought the gig was at Someday Lounge instead of Towne Lounge. He checked the listings to make sure the gig was still on and didn't see it in Someday's schedule so took off to LA to do some hardcore work on a MTV Gossip collaboration.
He's doing a show as Feather Figure with New Bloods sometime this month at Dunes apparently. That's a must mark-down on any calendar.
Justin from Fist Fite also approached while I got my DJ on which was fun. I remarked how long it had been since I last saw him then realized it was on his birthday about three weeks before, so not that long at all or at least not as long as my exclamation implied.
We talked about Fist Fite's upcoming gigs and one in April especially caught my attention! One in Portland with PRE!!!!!! Whoo! I talked about how Akiko and I had talked about Fist Fite when I spent the night at her flat in November, then I mentioned all the disco balls that are marooned in curious places around the flat. I immediately told Nathan and he showed me his left hand where he already had "PRE" written hahahaha. Also alongside the band name were those of No Bra and These New Puritans, the Gossip's support for their next London gig that has now come to pass.
(though my disposable camera made his hand pretty much illegible hahahaha)
At pretty much ten on the dot Swim Swam Swum began producing their tunes live and everyone including me gravitated into the other room where they were from the foyer where just second before "Sweaty" by Muscles had been booming.
They are skinny:
I did another set (which you can download in Part 1), this time 20 minutes-ish instead of a full hour. Just as Calvin Harris started singing about his self-proclaimed harem in "The Girls," it was time for Reporter to take the stage and sing about new days.
Wow - Reporter live! Wow! So danceable!!! The basslines! The drum beats! Right before I went overseas in November I interviewed them at Valentines. Janet Weiss was downstairs chatting up the bartender at the time. A couple weeks later I lounged in Leigh's Glasgow flat spinning it into a 400 word profile over the course a day wrought with procrastination for Willamette Week. I had never seen their former incarnation Wet Confetti live (despite trying hard do the night of Yacht on a Yacht at Fist Fite's party) nor them as Reporter and seeing them on the Holocene stage made me wish I had seen them before the article. Like the essence of the band's songs are so, so different on stage as opposed on compact disc (or a myspace page).
I definitely think the article I wrote would've been different had I seen them live. My interviews are always better when I've been able to take a band in live... especially when it runs as a narrative as opposed to a straight-up transcription, having a whole-er idea of the band definitely shapes the piece in a different way.
I bumped into many lovely people over the course of the evening including former high school classmate Brittany and my former Outdoor School Counselor Jose. We took to the dancefloor during Nathan's sets, the only ones to do so! The attendees that evening were a bit inhibited. At one point we realized that as the only people on the dancefloor, we were also the only people of color there hahahaha
Next and right on time were We Are Wolves. Their arrival onstage was so rushed (though you couldn't tell) that they did not don their signature skulls, but it made little difference except in terms of backing visuals. Maybe it was even better that way because boy were they active!
While they danced it up over the stage oozing with appeal, I danced up front with wild abandon and that was maybe the upside of the turn-out being so-so -- that there was room to dance! It reminded me of the Copy/MSTRKRFT show there in 2006 where there was plenty of space to move.
It was pretty much hit after hit from We Are Wolves, mostly from new album Total Magique, all delivered ferociously. They introduced the track "Magique" as their French song. They finished out their set without "Little Birds," but appeared shortly after to encored with tune, Jose and my vocal pleas answered with an intense rendition that had us "yelling red and blue!"
Nathan stepped back up to the pitch and got his vinyl spinning again as the venue began to empty and some people ordered up more drinks.
Did you know that the French in France and French in French-Canadaland are different? Well, I do now. After remarking that I knew how to say "Are you playing hide and seek?" in French the members of We Are Wolves taught me how to say it in French-Canadian.
Mini-French lesson:
The France way: Jouez-vous à cache-cache?
Quebec way: Jouez-vous à la cachette?
More useful than a guidebook! I learned some other French phrases and feel confident that if I were to go there tomorrow I still wouldn't know how to communicate in any language other than English. They all seemed genuinely shocked/surprised that I wanted to go to Montreal which shocked/surprised me. Don't we all? I mean the music coming out of there is insane! And the people are enjoyable, no matter what Vice leads one to believe.
I had a departing chat with Alex who is very enjoyable. He asked what I thought they could do on a future PDX tour stop to improve turn-out and how their booking agent had warned them that Seattle and Portland were tough tour-markets and didn't recommend them, echoing what I've chatted to Tokyo Police Club about in terms of Portland. I actually advised Alex that they shouldn't play Portland again on a business stand-point. Me. To one of my favorite Canadian bands. But I was being honest...
Then the conversation picked up to how even Coldplay don't play Portland because even for them it's a tough tour market. That really says something. Their last PDX show was at Arlene Shnitzer with a capacity of 2776. Tickets remained day of. Alex said in Montreal, they sold-out a two day run at the stadium with 20,000 capacity. Britney Spears couldn't even sell out the Rose Garden (Portland's arena and biggest venue) on her Onyx Hotel tour. Only Disney fameball Hannah Montana can nowadays. Then I got talking about Holocene's last sold-out show, the magical Yeasayer show that had come to pass just days before. Alex hadn't yet checked out the band, but I assured him they're not some flash-in-the-pan - like they can back up the hype. About a week later their link was in his inbox, along with Miley Cyrus' myspace and the link for Hannah Montana's facebook group because that's how I roll.
Nathan spent some time talking to the group about some joint Gossip/We Are Wolves Canadian tour dates! Someone wants to go up north for that tour and that someone is me.
I had given Alex a ninja turtle ring earlier and he gave me a shirt! With that We Are Wolves were off to SF with a show in the Bay Area the very next day! Yikes! How did that get scheduled? (seeing as most bands have a day off in between the two given the commute)
I ended my evening at the venue with a very very fun chat with Jacob of Holocene who not only got me stocked with extras of my poster, but got me even more excited for Simian Mobile Disco's April appearance as if that was possible! The possibilities are what make it possible... :) Then me and Marisa took to the open road back to our residences sometime between one and two.
"Fight & Kiss" We Are Wolves MP3
Youtube: Nathan's video montage of karaoke in Tokyo
A round of virtual drinks and thank yous must be sent the way of Elhaam, she of GBH in NYC (hosts of my first Uffie live experience) and awesome playlists on Guilty as Pleasure and awesome blogging over at Retarded Fantasy. She's a true music fan and supporter through and through, lending her help and connections to bands she likes which in this case turned out to be We Are Wolves and their North American tour. She got in touch with me about being apart of the Portland gig at the end of last year and the experience was absolutely amazing! It was great recommending Nathan to be my DJ co-chair, getting to do the poster, DJing and other such activities in promotion. It was a privilege! Ten million thanks yous for involving me!
And look what I spied but two days ago -- my poster -- still up:
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