Freed and I caught Clap Your Hands Say Yeah playing with The National last night. Clap Your Hands was quite good as expected. After hearing a few live sets including the one on KCRW, I wasn’t surprised that they started with 3 new songs, but I still felt was a questionable approach. The band was pretty mellow with the exception of lead singer, Alec Ounsworth, who danced around while yelping and yodeling like a strained, barely comprehendable Fraggle.
I was surprised & impressed by The National. I was thinking that it was a little wierd to put the well published draw as an opener, but despite losing some of the crowd after the CYHSY set, The National lived up to their top billing. With guitar harmonies reminiscent of Chin Up Chin Up and metered drumming like that of The Walkmen drummer Matt Barrick, the sound was lush and engaging.
The only thing that I thought was holding them back was the somber vocals of Matt Berninger: mostly loungey and muttered in a deep baritone that sounds like Eric Bachmann’s Crooked Fingers work. My feeling at the show was that they seemed more like they would fit for the background of a scene from “The O.C.” than CYHSY ever would. I think they started with “Secret Meeting,” which is my favorite track off of their new album. It has those Chin Up Chin Up guitars, some awesome Constantines-like background yelling, and for some reason the vocals sound more appropriate than they do in many of the other songs.
: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Graceful Retreat :
: The National - All The Wine :
: The National - Murder Me Rachel :
: The National - Cold Girl Fever :
Hey,
I came across your blog via Technorati. I was looking for other folks who were there last night. Anyway, CYHSY’s first song was a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit,” FYI. They were better than I expected, but they need to have better rapport with the audience, but their music more than made up for it. The National, though, were intense. Too bad they seemed to peter out at the end. Hopefully CYHSY can match that intensity after a few more years’ touring under their belt.
Great blog.
Raul
While I agree that The National’s performance in some ways outshined CYHSY’s, musically little ecplises Alec’s song writing ability. Yes The National rocked, but little escapes the amps of CLYHSY without the carefully crafted touch of Ounsworth. Call it self-important conceit, call it obsessive compulsive. but it makes for beautifully composed music and lyrics.
thanks for the kind comments raul… i was thinking alec sounded like dylan in the beginning. didn’t realize it was a cover.
i guess the ucla show got cacelled… glad i didn’t take off from work for that.
Man, I’m bummed I missed that show.