Brightest Young Things

all photos: Sam Graves
all words: Nina Slesinger

At around 9:00 pm, after a delicious meal of Ethiopian food at Almaz, my friends and I headed down to the Black Cat to catch Still Life Still, a band we knew nothing about.  We sat in the back of the Cat and listened for a while, and even made our way up toward the end of the set, but when the group walked off stage, we still knew next to nothing about them.  The five-piece wore hoodies and angular haircuts and played emotional rock but unfortunately none of their music really struck me enough to want to seek more out.  That said, their melodramatic brand of pop, while generic, was a good choice to segue into Wild Beasts's intense, moody set.

Still Life Still had a bunch of bright rope lights coiled around mic stands and bass drums, and as they unwound them and made their way off stage I expected that Wild Beasts would bring in some more cool lighting effects.  When the group came on stage and began playing with very little, very simple lighting, I knew that the show would not be what I had come to expect after listening to the band's album "Two Dancers" for the past few weeks.  With all the tribal percussion, operatic vocals and dramatic lyrics, I expected a theatrical live show.  But if Cale's interview proved anything, it's that this band is anything but pretentious.

Wild Beasts opened with "The Fun Powder Plot."  I, along with many people in the room, held my breath to see how Hayden Thorpe's voice would translate live.  The answer: It would translate very, very well.  I found the show to be most powerful when Tom Fleming also came in on vocals.  His intensity is unmatched as far as vocalists I've seen live.  When he shrieked the "Watch me!  Watch me!"and then fell into the deep baritone for "All the King's Men"...oh man.  At one point when he was playing the cowbell I really thought he was going to murder the thing.  With every hit he almost fell to the ground.

Also, during the show my friends and I noticed how much these guys live up to the band name.  From the tribal hints in their percussion to the Hayden and Tom's growls, shrieks and rumbles, the band really did sound like a bunch of (extremely talented, friendly) rabid animals at points.

Seeing Wild Beasts live left me with the best kind of feeling to get after seeing a group live: all I've wanted to listen to all day is their music.  I didn't feel very emotionally connected to the album before seeing the show, but after basking in the tight intensity of the whole thing, I have a whole new appreciation for their music.

I thought the crowd for the show was pretty good--everyone seemed very into the band and all songs got big applause.  In return, Wild Beasts were very appreciative.  At one point they mumbled something about bombing a show recently, and a few times throughout Tom would grin and say, "Oh yeah, we're coming back here."

Also, I met Cale and his girlfriend Amy at this show, so that was cool!  BYT is all around us.

Lastly:

Dear Girl Who Would Not Stop Talking About Cheesesteaks,

STOP TALKING ABOUT CHEESESTEAKS AND WATCH THE SHOW.  Seriously.  Of all the things to talk about while drunk.

Love,

Nina

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre