By: Neil Munshi
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Camera Obscura - Publicity Photo |
If you want to know the truth, Camera Obscura's show at the Varsity was good, but not great. Ultimately, it ended up as a footnote to the evening; a blip on the radar of bigger things.
Like the Glasgow-based band's three albums, the show was charming and sweet, full of melancholy lyrics bopping along to upbeat music. As this is a U.K. band that plays charming and sweet music, I'm legally obligated to refer to the songs and band as both twee and cheeky. And the Belle & Sebastian comparison is like the rider on a pork-laden bill passing its way through Congress – unavoidable.
Tracyanne Campbell, the bob-topped pale Scottish front-woman, complete with dormouse looks and lilting voice, was surprisingly engaging; shy and cute before the mic, she introduced wry tunes in a coy rhotic accent. In short, she was nothing like the dour sourpuss featured in the band's horrid video for "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken," which comes damn close to destroying everything good about the group – namely, their ability to keep you bouncing along blissfully unawares while Campbell sings heartrending songs of little solace. (Watch the video, at your own peril, here.)
In a set heavy on reflective tunes from this year's celebrated Let's Get out of this Country, Camera Obscura kept it low-key, unpretentious and, in general, quite rapturous. Kicking off a little off-key, Campbell couldn't quite find her voice on opener "Come Back Margaret." What should have her resignedly pleading, "Darling you will always be around/Whether my mood's up or if it's down/In dreams I try to take you far away/But you never stay," became something stilted and a bit awkward. Within a few songs, though, she found her stride, and her voice reached that plaintive, middling register that focuses the listener's ear beyond the atmospherics (expertly delivered by the rest of the band, I might add, most notably by multi-instrumentalist Nigel Baillie).
If this show were a porno (and most rock shows, though not necessarily this one, are just that – gratuitous, sexually-charged, far too expensive, often unfulfilling and available for free on the internet), the low music of the building opening was the exposition – the scene where we meet the undercover cop who has to infiltrate a drug ring, and ends up falling for one of the marks. But what we're waiting for, what everyone in the room was waiting for, was the moment when the pair finally gives in, when the passions flair; to be blunt, the money shot. Obscura's money shot occurred, quite surprisingly, when the band played the three best songs from Country in succession. First came "Lloyd," then the title track, and finally "If Looks Could Kill" – a deft kiss-off, disguised as an attempt at reconciliation.
It was hard not to cringe as each song rang off, one after another. One couldn't help but think they'd shot their wad a bit too early, or at least hadn't saved up enough energy for the encore. Consequently, the show ended on a down note (tonally, not in merit) when it could have been boisterous and endearing, keeping the crowd moving as concertgoers drifted back into the thick summer air.
Oh, and about that footnote; hip-hop legend Biz Markie played a free show at the Dinkytowner that same night. Granted he didn't take the stage until after midnight, and the only real "rapping" he did was the odd interjection of his one hit (1989’s "Just a Friend"), but he spun his CD decks like a madman, using one hand, both hands, no hands or just tongue. Meanwhile, his hypeman initiated a little game in which Biz spun a disc and the crowd had to react immediately if they knew it. If they did, Biz won some dough; if not, hypeman did. The game was funny enough, but seeing 60 college kids bouncing up and down in recognition of the opening chords to the theme song from "Cheers" was absolutely priceless…at a hip hop show no less.
In retrospect, the Camera Obscura show was probably better than the Biz Markie show, but Biz for all his kitsch appeal was simply more animated, and ultimately, less forgettable. Then again, perhaps when I refer to "bigger things" on the radar, I'm just citing Biz's heft.
Location Info:
The Varsity Theater
Artist Info: Camera Obcsura
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