Evangelicals (Middle East Upstairs, Boston, 10/1/08)

Evangelicals (Middle East Upstairs, Boston, 10/1/08)

By Holly L. Perry - October 3, 2008 | Email the author

I have a question for all of you indie kids: what is with the bandanna?

I get the whole skinny jeans, converse kicks, and [insert vintage thrift store tee shirt here], but the bandana is completely mystifying to me. Scarf? Sure. Headband? Fine. But a bandana around the neck? Is there a secret underground Kanye West following in the indie world? Members only? Do ultra-chic indie kids get ‘tapped’ into an upper echelon society of bandana-wearing hipsters? I saw at least five such bandanas around the necks of band members and fans at the Evangelicals [Official Site, MySpace] show Wednesday night. They played with The Parenthetical Girls [Official Site, MySpace]and Matt Mays & El Torpedo [Official Site, MySpace]. Truly. Enlighten me.

The Parenthetical Girls were peculiar and mesmerizing. At times, lead singer Zac Pennington sounds like Brian Molko of Placebo, only a bit softer. Their music makes me think of an old-school circus performance – something from the early days of P.T. Barnum. And the band puts on quite a show.

[Show as slideshow]

Photo Credit: Mark Espowood

Pennington’s theatrical antics initially catch you off guard, but then grow on you to the point where you’re wondering what will happen next. Their song, “The Weight She Fell Under” was particularly good live. At one point, he came off stage with drumsticks and a corded mic, wandering the crowd and beating the drumstick against the walls of the club, as if searching for studs to hang pictures. He knelt down amongst the crowd and drummed on the worn out wooden floor, all the while singing fervently. Meanwhile Rachael Jensen was intent with her small xylophone set, housed in a light blue plastic case. After each song, Pennington said, “Thanks, team” and occasionally, in what seemed to be faux self-deprecation, “we’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes.” Modest. The band members took turns playing various instruments, and at the close of the show, they were all banging on various parts of the drum kit – it was eerily symbolic, somehow, though I can’t place the reason why.

Matt Mays & El Torpedo was a mixed bag. They started off with a couple of alt-rock songs, then sort of transitioned into more of a pop punk feel, and left the crowd with a “d all of the above” number that’s conclusion was superfluous (you know when a band ends a song with repetitious electric guitar chords? This one has ten too many). The band played a solid set, with an impressive performance of “Shining Eyes.” Mays’ vocal solos were raspy and strained – if he toned them down ever so slightly, I think that Tappy Tibbons says it best – “weee’ve got a winner!”

The Evangelicals took the stage after much sound checking – actually, this seemed to be persistent throughout their set. The technical issues destroyed any mood they were trying to create – or maybe it was their fog machine, which reminded me of a seventh grade dance. The purple and green lighting was cool, as was the and wraith-like reverb and vocals. After each song, the band would comment on some problem they were having – feedback, loudness, a buzzing, a potential loose wire. Whether it was a mis-communication between the sound tech and the band, the house equipment, or the bands stuff, I’m not really sure. But it was annoying. And I’m sure this was quite annoying to the band, but whatever issues they were having didn’t seem blatant (read: I couldn’t hear any real problem, except maybe the faintest of buzzing in between songs). The crowd didn’t throw tomatoes, so I’m assuming they didn’t really care about the issue either. The band could have used this opportunity to chat it up with the crowd a bit.

Their music was good, but with all of the stoppage time, it made the problems more memorable than the actual performance. I’d like to see them on a second pass sans the issues.

“Skeleton Man” [mp3]
“The Halloween Song” (from Up All Night EP) [mp3]

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