If you live within even a few hours of St. Augustine, FL, I would highly recommend visiting Cafe Eleven at some point in your concert-going life. It’s a wonderfully small place that tends to bring in great touring acts (Vanderslice, Mountain Goats, Mark Kozelek, Band of Horses, Mt. Eerie, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and on and on). The food is great, the sound is great, it doesn’t get super crowded, and it’s right on the beach. What more do you want? Completely worth the 90 minute drive from Orlando, especially compared to the icky, disintegrating Social.
Full disclosure: this was my fourth time seeing The Thermals since their first tour in 2003- and in three states, no less. I’ve seen them play to their hometown crowd in Portland, the indie-conservatives in Salt Lake City, and I’ve witnessed them go from four members to three and back to four again. Needless to say, I’m a big fan, so take my opinions with a pillar of salt (couldn’t help it, sorry), but who doesn’t like The Thermals? For real.
But this was a headlining gig for The Thermals- otherwise opening for The Hold Steady on this tour- so we gotta stand through a couple opening acts. Luckily for us, though, the night got started with The Big Sleep from Brooklyn.
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep turned all the lights out (”Completely off,” bassist Sonya Balchandani asked the soundman politely) and illuminated themselves from below with portable, high-powered construction lamps. It may seem like a gimmicky move up front, but The Big Sleep’s brand of mostly instrumental, experimental rock was complimented nicely by the visuals of the giant shadows, moving ominously along the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage.
Turns out the only money I spent on merch all night ended up being The Big Sleep’s debut album, Son of the Tiger, as their performance was fascinating and almost flawless. But even the expertly-timed stop/starts of “You Can’t Touch The Untouchable” didn’t take any emotion or room for experimentation away from the music. And at that very last crashing note of their set, when guitarist Danny Barria kicked off the lights, the crowed went absolutely nuts in total darkness. Really wonderful stuff, highly recommended.
Dirty on Purpose
Fellow Brooklynites Dirty on Purpose were not quite as impressive. But, in all fairness, they got a bum rap. They should have been the opening act, without question. Their often quiet dream pop shoegazing seemed to bring the night to a violent halt after the noisy theatrics of The Big Sleep, and I was pretty much bored by the first three songs.
But, about midway into their set, Dirty on Purpose started to build the tempo, the energy, the volume, and the melody all at once. Every song got better and more interesting as they went on. They always retained their shimmering sleepiness- violin bows on guitar strings and all- but there was about a 20 minute section of their set, towards the end, where I literally forgot where I was. The audience disappeared, the friends I was with vanished, nothing really seemed to exist any longer. The band was there, playing, and I could hear them, but they seemed distant, despite my toes touching the edge of the stage. I got rather enjoyably lost in the soundscapes being created, and ended up literally traveling to some mental dreamland where time moved slower and all sounds had natural reverb. It was quite nice, and I ended up enjoying Dirty on Purpose quite a bit.
(Though, one last thing: can’t The Big Sleep and Dirty on Purpose exchange band names? Seriously.)
Dirty on Purpose - Light Pollution.mp3
The Thermals
The extremely good-natured Thermals then took the stage with a smile and pretty much rocked Cafe Eleven to its very foundation. Hutch and Kathy were dependably energetic and happy to be there, as usual, but it was nice to see new drummer Lorin Coleman for the first time. His kit was even more stripped down than Jordan Hudson’s was, lacking a single tom drum (who needs them, right?). He didn’t have quite the manic energy Hudson did in the past, but he was steady, dependable, and, most importantly, fast.
To long time Thermals fans, the new fourth member of the band, guitarist Joel Burrows, is probably most, ehh, controversial, for lack of a better word. Thermals songs of the past don’t really scream for a two guitar attack, and both Joel and Hutch played identical chords and rhythms for older songs like “Brace And Break” and “Back To Gray.” But the extra sound produced, as their amps gave off markedly different tones, created a very nice, hard-hitting sound, and even when the two were in complete sync, Hutch still had that slight bit of extra freedom to focus a bit more on singing. The complete weight of the Thermals’ distortion and melody is longer weighing completely on him.
Where the dual axe procession worked most effectively, not surprisingly, was on the new material from The Body, The Blood, & The Machine. The new record comprised a good bulk of the set, but it was actually quite exhilarating to hear it live for the first time. The new material is significantly more sophisticated than the three chord no-fi of More Parts Per Million, but fans of the Thermals’ actual music and not just the Thermals’ imaginary “ethic” won’t be complaining when Hutch steps away from the mic and starts to solo. (Plus, go easy on Joel… he did the entire show with a sprained ankle.)
Standouts in the set included the underrated “St. Rosa And The Swallows,” crowd-go-nuts-oh-my-god-sing-a-longs “A Pillar Of Salt” and “No Culture Icons,” and the absolutely destructive “Back To The Sea.” I was also extremely excited to hear “Everything Thermals,” a wonderful little tune from the band’s first EP that people seem to have forgotten about. It was a nice mix of old and new material for everyone and I’m very happy to have witnessed, for my money, the best rock band alive obliterate a small crowd on the Eastern cost of the Sunshine State.
Here’s the setlist:
01. Here’s Your Future
02. I Might Need You To Kill
03. An Ear For Baby
04. A Stare Like Yours
05. A Passing Feeling
06. Brace And Break
07. Born Dead
08. How We Know
09. St. Rosa And The Swallows
10. Our Trip
11. Every Stitch
12. Let Your Earthquake Baby
13. Back To The Sea
14. No Culture Icons
15. Power Doesn’t Run On Nothing
16. Everything Thermals
17. Back To Gray
18. A Pillar Of Salt
19. Returning To The Fold
(On the setlist, but cut due to St. Augustine cops deciding to be pricks, were “I Hold The Sound,” “God And Country,” “Top Of The Earth,” and “It’s Trivia.”)
And an apology: to anyone’s toes that I may have crushed during my manic, uncontrollable, hour-long dance spasm, I sincerely apologize. I’ll try not to let you stand so close to me next time The Thermals are in town.
The Thermals - A Pillar Of Salt.mp3
Visit The Thermals, Dirty on Purpose, and The Big Sleep on MySpace
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