all photos: Francis Chung
Glasvegas can do more with three little notes than most can do with a ten-piece backing band. They play these totally weird songs, inspired equally by the Jesus & Mary Chain and 60’s girl groups that made the Black Cat seem way ill-fitting. They should have been blasting this out from the International Space Station or something. What a fucking great show.
The only thing I knew about opener Ida Maria going in was that they had a girl singer and recently signed to Mercury Records. The latter fact makes complete sense when you see how out of her fucking mind the titular frontwoman is (in the best possible way). Their songs are these little three-minute bursts of energy, usually about drinking and self-loathing, and for the first half of the set, you couldn’t tell what, besides the general genialness of the songs, would set this band apart from thousands of their ilk. Then the true Ida Maria shows up, deep-throating microphones, spilling water all over the rest of the band and their electric equipment, screaming and growling like a 70-year singing blues at a roadhouse in Hell.
Everyone completely ate it up and as they got more into it, so did she; their most popular song was titled “I Like You Better When You’re Naked,” a jangly ode to fucking. By the end of their set, Maria, looking just the right amount of emotionally unstable, was an unstoppable force, tearing up the stage and breaking shit as she saw fit. It didn’t strike me as a gimmick the way these kinds of antics usually do. I just believed everything her shirt said: “I sold my soul for rock and roll.” Good god, woman. I’m a believer.
Apparently, everyone and their mother likes Glasvegas. I didn’t really know this. The show sold out early in advance and the crowd ranged from sad-looking middle-aged cougars to at least one glaringly out-of-place ten-year old. I looked back like two songs into Ida Maria’s performance and the room was already mobbed. By the time the band walked on stage and the ambient haze that starts “Geraldine” was being played, people were losing their shit. The song begins with a reverb-drenched, sky-scraping riff that consists of a total of three notes and then explodes into existence, piling on layer after layer of atmospheric shoegaze guitar with rudimentary beats not unlike those of a doo-wop song (courtesy of the band’s standing, rotund, female drummer who plays only a bass and snare drum) and emotive Scottish singing on top. If that doesn’t sound like the weirdest combination every, you must be a Glasvegas fan.
Their set was fucking transcendent. And loud. During the second-to-last song, their eponymous debut’s “Ice Cream Van,” I literally just threw my hands up and looked at the ceiling, eyes completely shut. Literally! Seeing them is like going to church. Only, instead of a pipe organ, there’s the sexiest Fender Jaguar you’ve ever seen, tremolo bar-ing almost to the point of combustion. You don’t usually see impressive light set-ups at Black Cat, but the lush blues, reds and strobes that enveloped the stage made me forget how pale and ghastly-looking this band usually is. Not that it really mattered. When they get going, like they did on tracks like “Go Square Go” and encore “Daddy’s Gone,” they’re simple unstoppable. I’m pretty sure Glavegas doesn’t exist when they’re not on stage. I don’t mean that in some sort of funky, metaphysical way; I just literally cannot imagine these human beings consuming their time in any other way besides playing this music.
After a brisk hour-and-change, the band called it quits, but not before kissing some hands and giving a pick to the aforementioned ten-year old. I had a tremendous time, and not only because the cute girl I was talking to all night gave me the time of day. Glasvegas and their ear-splitting performances could rule the world if they wanted to. Columbia Records really knows how to pick ‘em.
Previously in Live DC:
- Live DC: Marina And The Diamonds @ 930 Club
- PHOTOS: 30 Seconds to Mars @ SONAR (brought to you by Maybelline)
- Live DC: Autolux @ Black Cat brought to you by Moldex Ear Plugs
- Live DC: Dominique Young Unique @ DC9
- Rock The Bells Report
- PHOTOS: Family Hemerlein August Edition
- LiveDC: Matisyahu @ 930 Club
- PHOTOS: Scissor Sisters @ DAR
- Live DC: Tears for Fears @ 9:30 Club
- Live DC: Vivian Girls / Brett and the Whispers / Heavy Cream @ Comet
God loves a cheerful giver.
Major swooning here. Hard to believe this is the same show Malitz reviewed at The Post. Luckily no one disputes the charms of Ida Maria or I would have heavier reservations. Quite possibly the first double backslap for modern major label A+R around here as well. I am way too jaded to think that Glasvegas is anything less than a hazy version of Gene without the musicality, but it is nice to see folks excited about something.
also:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/downloads/byt-favorite-song-of-the-day-96/
Ida Maria fucking killed it. Glasvegas was great too, but in a very different way.
@ John Foster:
You wanna give a link to that article?
@ Patrick:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702885.html
seriously tho, glasvegas was sooooo bland. alan mcgee, what happened to yr usually impeccable taste, dude?
awesome review. Saw them at sxsw and totally had the same experience you did. they are awesome and I never even heard of them before then. Huge fan!
i'm going to have to step in here and first say i loved reading this review - i wasn't at this show (because i live in new york, otherwise i would have been there with bells on and in the front row) but your description of glasvegas is EXACTLY what it has been like for me the 3 times i have seen them.
john foster - i'm shocked by your comment. you clearly haven't listened to them or seen them live. trust me (and i know you usually do!), you would probably like them. also, i hate gene. ugh. horrible comparison.
malitz - of course it is okay that you didn't enjoy the band. to each, clearly. and music is subjective, blah blah blah. but, it almost sounds to me like you were going in there wanting them to fail. which, to me, is incredibly boring. i agree with john that it is as if you and phil were at completely different shows...
in my mind, they are brilliant and truly worthy of the praise they are receiving...by everyone else that is!
@ Malitz,
It's one thing to write a negative review. It's another to write a negative review that's poorly researched.
1. Flood was an ENGINEER on U2's "The Joshua Tree," by which time the Edge's guitar sound was already pretty much fully formed.
2. PRODUCERS Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois had a much bigger hand in working with the edge. By this I mean choosing guitars, amplifiers, mic'ing techniques,etc.
3. Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen and Keith Levene of PIL were creating brilliant soundscapes several years before U2 kicked into high gear. Surely you've heard side two of Echo and the Bunnymen's "Heaven Up Here" ?
4. Glasvegas is not the worst band that Alan McGee has ever hyped.
Your article serves as further proof that maybe, just maybe, people who do not play an instrument should not be allowed to discuss the technical aspects of live music.
Glasvegas are awful. Just awful. Sorry. I couldn't even get through their entire record. It was like modern-era U2 with shittier production values.
pretty certain Malitz plays an instrument.
In fact, I think he has a show @ Comet this weekend where he will be playing whatever instrument it is that he plays.
Instrumentalist comment withdrawn. But if the homeboy does, egad...
But giving credit to the Edge for perfecting atmospheric guitar playing? WTF.
*Glasvegas' album, it doesn't really lend itself to multiple listens. But it's not that bad.
Echo and the Who? If I can ever finish transcribing my two-hour epic interview with Ian from last week, I'll make sure to send it along. That thing was a doozy, but between Mac's accent and complete drunkeness, not sure how much will be lost in translation.
The argument of "only musicians should be able to criticize music" is more boring, lazy and played out than even Glasvegas. Seriously dude.
could not agree more.
well, to be fair, he didn't say that only musicians should be able to criticize music. he said "discuss the technical aspects of live music." that's something totally and completely different.
anyway. neither here nor there.
glasvegas are brilliant live. i saw them the first time after having only heard one song. they blew me away so much that i proceeded to get everything they had ever put out and listen to them non-stop for weeks. it still isn't played out for me. not by a long shot.
Touché !!!
I shouldn't even really be talking about Echo and the Bunnymen, considering the fact that Ian continues to talk shit about Julian Cope/The Teardrop Explodes. It's really funny that there hasn't been more exploration of the late 70s/early 80s Liverpool sound. I'd better get to it before a bunch of jokers from Brooklyn start wearing raincoats and ripping off "Porcupines" and "Kilimanjaro."
PS
I never explicitly stated that non-musicians should not criticize music. A key phrase was left outta that sentence: "technical aspect."
I bring that up because I remember reading ridiculous things like "angular guitar playing." WTF does that even mean?
I listened to two minutes of one Glasvegas song on Pandora and decided that they were pretty bad.
i was at this show and glasvegas totally rocked my world. they ooze sweet scottish-ness from every pore. just because i'm a cougar doesn't mean i can't have good taste in music.
excellent review...
I was not at the show but I have listened to the band. Glasvegas to me is just "fine" which can be the most damning of all when you sit through hundreds of shows (and especially when you are following a pretty vibrant and engaging opening act.) I have hundreds of "fine" records in my collection. Nothing wrong with that. However, going to a show, I would rather someone be anything but "fine" if you get where I am headed. That was really David's point as well.
Now for the next stage of this thread: The Edge stole everything he knew in the early days of U2 from The Chameleons and sort of came up with a unique sound by trying to make their two guitars sound like one. Didn't nick from anyone else. You can discuss all you want but that's the truth.
As for Ian - tons of great drunken interviews here in DC over the years. Should be a good one. Once he was keyed up on "something" and promised a local band's lead singer that he could get up on stage and sing one of their songs but hours later at the actual gig he was pickled and didn't recognize the guy or recall saying a word to the embarrassment of all parties just off the stage when he tried to walk on. This was relayed by the guy doing the interview - not by the singer so no bullshit. Classic. Every city has to have had a similar experience. And yes - he truly despises Cope.
Actually John, the Urban Verbs had a hand in introducing Edge to the Echoplex.
Mr. Malitz, if you were to be honest with yourself, I know you'd agree that music criticism as a genre has also gotten a little boring, lazy and played out. I just want someone to tell me how the music smelled, felt and tasted.
Or just write about Androids from the future. Janelle Monae? Because she is not just alright at all. She is fucking amazing.
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/recklessly-live-dc-janelle-monae/
Shouldn't you be at work Mr. Royle? Haha.
The point would sorta be that Fripp and Martyn introduced everyone to the echoplex - not that I doubt the Verbs part for our story here. What I am at is more along the lines of what he was trying to do with it. True contemporaries, it just took The Chameleons much longer to get a proper album out. I need to dig out my old rags with all the quotes from The Edge about all he wants to do is match The Chameleons guitar firepower and all Bono wants to do is play a passable cover of Wire's "Mannequin." They all read like that for the humble period before the U2 god complex went into full effect. At least when they played Manchester they bowed down to the locals back then.
@john foster
to your point, i have no idea what i would've thought about the glasvegas record had i not seen them *first*. i saw them at mercury lounge their first visit to the states last year and they stunned me. really, really stunned. as in jaw to the ground. it was completely unexpected. well, i mean, are you ever expecting to be blown away by a band you haven't heard (in spite of the glowing review from my man alan mcgee...which, to be fair, is why i was there)?
i think that experience has so much to do with how i feel about the album - which i adore. now, will they have a sustaining effect on me? i don't know. maybe not. but, they are indeed amazing live and their album still makes me really, really happy.
p.s. eff U2 and the edge...talk about boring and played out.
p.s.s. paul rudd loves glasvegas.
I often find that with some of my albums I can like or possibly not be that impressed with it until I see a band live and living those songs, then I go back to listen to the album and it suddenly falls into place.With Glasvegas I loved it from the first spin, the lyrics burn deep into the soul as does James haunting vocals. I wonder if those that think Glasvegas album shit have seen them live though. I reckon us diehard Glasvegas fans can put up with those that don't like them......thats kind of like 500,000 people worldwide love them and maybe 5000 don't .............yeh! I can live with that:-)