Even if you aren’t a U2 fan, you can’t complain about the music Chicago has been treated to in the past week, as the Noise Pop festival returned to the Windy City’s rock clubs for a second straight year. Those who attended no doubt noticed two things: One was the great music. The other was a mop-haired 40-something man looking like Dave Grohl’s embarrassing older brother, who appeared to be dancing in the front row of every single show, including Couch and Bevis Frond on the same night. (He was honestly at every one of these shows.) nyou
Yo La tengo >> Metro >> may 9
Rhythm was the order of the day when Yo La Tengo headlined the Metro to kick off Noise Pop Chicago on May 9. Riding touring guest Susie Ibarra’s syncopated percussion, the Jersey trio cruised through a mellow set that drew heavily from 1999’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. Along with Ibarra and regular drummer Georgia Hubley, both guitarist Ira Kaplan and bassist James McNew got a turn at the sticks, culminating in a three-drummer version of the band’s “Attack on Love,” with Kaplan playing keyboard and everyone else hitting the skins.
Reluctant local heroes Eleventh Dream Day set the stage with their first live performance of this year. Mixing early recordings and songs from last year’s Stalled Parade, the band sounded far better rehearsed than they actually were. Kaplan joined in with the band for one number, and Eleventh guitarist Rick Rizzo repayed the favor by adding guitar to the headliners’ astonishingly accurate cover of Neil Young’s “Time Fades Away.”
Despite a low-key set, Yo La Tengo was tight and effortlessly engaging, offering a promising start to the five-day festival.
Television >> Metro >> May 10
It had been a while since Television had played in the United States. Almost a decade, in fact.
But the newly reunited punk legends played a Noise Pop show that bands half their age and twice as industrious will aspire to until the next elusive Television gig.
Looking like wiser versions of the boys on the cover of 1977’s Marquee Moon, Tom Verlaine, Fred Smith, Richard Lloyd and Billy Ficca took the stage almost tentatively. The unassuming Verlaine even carried his guitar’s effects pedals in a plastic grocery bag.
Not that there was anything tentative about the show. Playing a nearly two-hour set, the boys proved once again what happens when punks learn to play their instruments. Verlaine and Lloyd traded guitar lines that were more intricate than anything noodlers like Phish have ever dreamed of, all while cracking jokes and – surprisingly enough – smiling. (Lloyd and Verlaine don’t usually get along so well.)
And the hits didn’t stop. From “Venus” and “Prove It” on down to the finale (other than a medley-like encore), a mind-bending 25-minute version of “Marquee Moon” that rendered the audience silent and stunned, Verlaine reminded old fans that he just might be rock ‘n’ roll’s best living guitarist. Seriously.
Sure, Thursday’s show wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it was once-in-a-decade, and pretty damn phenomenal as those go.
Couch >> Schubas Tavern >> May 11
As far as four-piece instrumental-rock bands from Munich, Germany, go, Couch is at the top of their class. Unlike most of Chicago’s new breed of instrumental outfits, Couch isn’t afraid to simply rock out. By combining infectious, repetitious melodies and pummeling drum beats, Couch manages to make its instrumentals interesting and dynamic.
In its hourlong set, the band managed to bust through all cultural boundaries by melding pop sensibilities with an unorthodox, bass-oriented melody, which made many of the songs sound fresh, yet familiar. Couch’s main strength lies in its unity; like a well-oiled machine, the band never skipped a beat and seemed to be in an unbreakable trance during the entire set. Without a lead singer to hog the attention, each member seemed to be on equal footing, and this made each song tighter and more expressive. On slower-paced numbers, the repetitiveness of the songs began to grate, but these moments were few.
Chicago’s own up-and-comers, L’altra, opened and provided atmospheric dramatics not unlike those of Pink Floyd, minus the excess.
Bevis Frond with Pinetop Seven >> Empty Bottle >> May 11
For 15 years, the Bevis Frond has been Nick SaloMonday, a haggard singer/guitarist extraordinaire, collaborating with a revolving cast of instrumentalists. While Frond studio work tends toward psychedelic guitar fuzz-outs, Salomon used his Noise Pop gig at the Empty Bottle to reveal the simple folk origins of his careening rock songs.
With just an acoustic guitar and his bassist Adrian Shaw at his disposal, Salomon narrated a decade-plus retrospective on his underappreciated career. Explaining how he created fan favorite records like 1988’s Auntie Winnie Album and 1991’s New River Head, Salomon seemed at ease engaging what amounted to an older-than-average crowd paying respects to an older-than-average performer. And the beautiful acoustic music arguably surpassed the noisy ramblings that have marred even the best Frond records.
Chicago’s Pinetop Seven stood out among three opening bands with their warm mix of folk, jazz, country and indie rock. Complex yet unpretentious, the group (actually a sextet, despite the name) attracted a large number of their own fans, many of whom lingered to talk loudly through Salomon’s set.
