By: Pat O'Brien
The Ascot Room has a distinct charm. The room is sort of dingy and beat up with a nonfunctional Romanesque fountain in the middle and a light panel above it, giving it the feel of a fallout shelter from a George Romero film. The bar is small and was operated in a very strange fashion Saturday night. Wine was visible but not being served. They had only one bartender, and the line was forty people deep for much of the night. But this was a very small price to pay to experience two veritable revelations on the stage. I couldn’t have been happier to be there.
The Idle Hands started things off, and proved they are unequivocally the best British band hailing from Minneapolis. There is a tendency in this city to replicate or wholly rip off Soul Asylum, The Replacements and Husker Du; the Idle Hands have no interest in taking that well-traveled path. They hit the stage with quiet confidence, and it surprised me when they spoke between songs and had familiar Midwestern accents. Lead singer Ciaran Daly has an actual singing voice, one reminiscent of R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, and the band has a sound that recalls Aladdin Sane-era David Bowie being molested by Oasis’ What’s The Story (Morning Glory)?. It sets them apart in the Minneapolis scene and hasn’t gone without notice nationally, where there has been a well-deserved increasing interest in this band. The reaction from the relatively small crowd was overwhelmingly positive and made the room seem fuller than it actually was; after their third song I looked around and was surprised to see only 85-100 people there, as it seemed like many more from all the hooting and applause. I predict big things for The Idle Hands, and being signed to a British label recently (Lavolta Records) can be nothing but a giant step in the right direction
I’d had very little experience with Elbow before Saturday night; I missed the early boat and will forever kick myself for it. I have not been taken by a band this fast in years. A scant ten seconds into the opening song I was making plans to acquire their small catalog of albums on the way home. They opened with “Station Approach” from their new album Leaders Of The Free World, the opening line “I haven’t been myself of late” just as easily describing lead singer Guy Garvey as it could his surroundings. Garvey has possibly the driest sense of humor in the world (sample comment: “This song is actually a pretty good one,” coming when he probably knew full well he already had the crowd eating out of his hand). This comes in stark contrast to his pained, occasionally rage-filled lyrics. Elbow describe themselves as “prog without solos,” but that doesn’t do them justice. A more sophisticated Travis mixed with early Catherine Wheel seems more accurate. Prog rock often is rooted in fantasy and overly difficult metaphors (I always think of Yes’ overblown stage sets and ultra-obtuse lyrics when it’s mentioned) but Garvey is almost too in tune with his emotions and his lyrics nearly bring you to tears at times.
Elbow effortlessly segued from seething, grinding electric to soft, supple acoustic music with Garvey and guitarist Mark Potter periodically trading lead and rhythm parts and constantly switching guitars between songs (I could see the band just fine, but couldn’t the stage itself at all, though they must have had at least eight guitars up there with them). There was palpable disappointment when Garvey said “This is our last song,” and when he sensed that he quipped, “It’s never really the last song, is it? We could be right back.” The encore opened with a Garvey/Potter acoustic song, and then they nearly blew the doors off the place with three more from the full band. When they walked off stage the cheering was louder than when they had walked off pre-encore, something that happens periodically but not nearly enough.
Location Info:
The Quest Club
Artist Info: Elbow, The Idle Hands
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