Favorite Song for Musical Chairs

Daft Punk, "Oh Yeah." Think about it.

10/05/06: Architecture in Helsinki at Maria am Ufer, Berlin

After being surprised at most of the concerts I had seen since my last post (blown away by Mogwai, trampled by the Black Mountain Army, disappointed by Erlend Oye's Whitest Boy alive, etc, etc...), I thought that I was entering into familiar territory when going to see Architecture in Helsinki. After all, I saw the band less than a year ago in a similar sized venue (Southgate House in Cinnci), and the band hasn't released anything new since then. Last time they were fun and charming, rotating instruments and playing squeaky toys at the appropriate times, miraculously performing their complex songs with only 8 members. I expected another simlarly enjoyable if tame experience.

I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Not at all the cute indie pop group of summer 2005, the new AiH was the cute, wild, fun, and crazy indie pop group of 2006. Opener "Nevereverdid" turned into more of a schizophrenic medley, with new distortion solos. The band rocked on It'5! like I would have never thought they could. They did a Kraftwerk cover that had the germans dancing (remember, germans don't dance). I could go on, but overall, every song was transformed into something a little edgier, a lot more experimental, and much more interesting for the AiH concert-going fan. Think Belle and Sebastian meets Sonic Youth. Well, at least Deerhoof.

This new development showed itself even more in the new AiH songs the band played. The songs were more electronic and dancy, but also experimental, and showed what the band has really gained with gorwing popularity and extensive touring: confidence. Before, it was enough for the band to pull off the extensive orchestrations of their pop-tunes, which was certainly no easy feat; now, the band is comfortable and confident on stage, and can have more fun. Cameron Bird led the group through improvised sections with his distortion/guitar solos; before the band had no clear live stage leader. The band was also more lively on stage, chatting with the audience and joking each other´. At the beginning of the show, the band commented on the heat of the small river-side club, and the male members of the band promptly took off their pants, having running shorts underneath. At the end of the show, the group also invited a couple of friends onstage to play the encore (Maybe You Can Owe me and Do the Whirlwind) with them. Then, seeing the crowd get excited, they invited the fans to rush the stage too, to play the heaps of percussion. Of course I did. Then, seemingly not wanting the show to end, the band played a new song, asking two finnish fans on stage to sing the finnish national anthem over it. After that, one more: everyon was invited to sing and play along with AiH on the Australian national anthem. Although the show can't match up to the Mogwai show in terms of religious experience, it was one of the most fun concerts I have been to, largely because the band was having so much fun.