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Primavera Club 2008
2008-12-12 Sala Apolo / Auditori del Forum Primavera Club 2008 Primavera Sound’s colder little sister has had a unique branding for each of its three years in existence. The first year included one of the best party nights I’d ever had in Barcelona with CSS, Art Brut, ESG, The Rapture, Fujiyi and Miyagi, the Pipettes and Ellen Allien all in the warehouse party space, balanced against the folkier auditorium stage with true luminaries Cat Power and Jeff Tweedy. The following year went all out indie with Deerhunter, Thurston Moore, No Age and Liars stamping their identity all over it and the festival was split once again between the grand Auditori del Forum and Sala Apolo. This year’s selection overall was in parts perhaps a little grittier, rawer and louder than previous editions with acts like Abe Vigoda, The Thermals and Lovvers standing out, but it was simultaneously more diverse. From r&b to shoegazing, indie to electro, garage rock to country rock and everything in between whilst all the time staying within the “Primavera” sound. The Dodos The Dodos were, I felt, unfairly overlooked over many of the end of year best albums list. It is hard to find many bands producing such complex and interesting music on the basic soft- indie rock formula. Meric Long’s gentle voice and sophisticated guitar work contrast so beautifully with the remaining members of the, sometime, trio’s sometimes fierce, sometimes subdued and always intricate percussive work. Inevitably, due to the makeup of the band, comparisons may be drawn with The White Stripes but the Dodo’s sound really did seem like something refreshing and new when their fantastic sophomore album was released at the beginning of 2008. Combining the instincts of percussion based world folk music (though more in concept than its conception) with introspective indie rock you are left with a surprisingly full and original sound. Having seen them on several occasions I can testify that The Dodos are an entirely different band on a small stage. Crammed into the sweaty 100 Club in London you could feel every smash of Joe Haener’s steel bin and marvel at just how good a drummer permanent member Logan Kroeber really is. Live in an arena like the Auditorio del Forum the shoe gazing can at times undermine the passion and force of the music. In such a massive arena the lights and dimensions of the stage can dwarf even the most experienced bands. Meric’s lack of connection with the crowd may be noticeable but in the end it serves a purpose. The Dodo’s music is given the freedom to speak for itself. At times sweet and melodic, at times melancholic, vitriolic and intense, through the course of a short forty-five minutes we get through a lot of ground. Songs like “Winter” manage to put across a romantic lament without making us gag, and such simple commentary is the Dodo’s stock in trade, with “Ashley”, “Joe’s Waltz” and “Undeclared,” all treading similar lines. But it’s the more animated and anthemic examples from “Visiter” that really show off the trio working most successfully as a musical unit. “Red and Purple,” is a perfect sampler of their work showing off all of their most ingenious elements to full effect. “Fools” percussion alone is uplifting, catchy and brilliant and combined with Long’s harshly contrasting style becomes a real highlight of the evening. And while you can pick at a few things, Long’s general malaise as a front man, a slight abundance of lesser known first album tracks, The Dodos are a band who deserve to be admired. They’ve done something different with indie music whilst still creating a truly accessible, tuneful and interesting body of work. As musicians with the technical abilities to backup their innovation, in the live arena, they are equally as impressive. Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves. You could not find two more contrasting front men than Merick Long and Eli Reed. Brash, charismatic, and near superhumanly energetic are not words that can be easily applied to the Dodos’ front man. Reed on the other hand is the twenty five year old pretender to the throne of the soul-revival movement who bounces round the stage like a spring fired out of a large canon. After the success of Amy Winehouse’s landmark “Back to Black” and Duffy’s chart dominance this year, it was only a matter of time before a reliable male counterpart appeared. Whilst The True Loves and their chief may not quite have got the attention of their female rivals, surely with such performances as were delivered tonight, it won’t be that way for long. Reed has three very powerful weapons at his disposal. The first, and the catalyst for everything else, is a voice so powerful it could knock down an elephant from several miles away which is put to good use through a lengthy set. The second is the sheer calibre of his band who get plenty of opportunities to shine along with their figurehead what with being a ten piece band of phenomenal musicians. But it’s the band’s final attribute that really make them stand out. Reed’s stage presence would at one time have been the stuff of music legend. With the kind of style and enthusiasm that must have set Elvis and Johnny Cash out from a whole pack of imitators or given James Brown his ongoing legacy, Eli “Paperboy” Reed knows how to work a crowd, no matter the size. The ability to get a whole auditorium of very knowledgeable music fans on their feet clapping and stamping in time with the music is no small achievement in itself. But such was the magnetism of this young performer, complete with jiving dance moves, extended vocal solos and crowd participation, that by the end of the evening, half of the audience were up on the stage in a genuinely spontaneous though welcome stage invasion. Reed’s one area that sadly lets him down is in his song selection. The majority of the songs he works with are authentic and beautifully composed, such as the slowed down and super soulful “Am I Just Fooling Myself?” In fact everything the band play is prime material for showing off the incredible dexterity of Reed’s voice but sometimes they find themselves more in the territory of vocal exercises than fully formed songs. Catchier numbers such as “Take My Love With You” are outnumbered by stop-starting displays of held notes and high pitched screaming, all very impressive but not so easy to dance to. And despite being truly phenomenal performers and great musicians it is the simple fact that they do not have songs as catchy as the men who they took their inspiration from that ultimately lets them down. “Doin’ The Boom Boom” is undoubtedly a contender to be Reed’s signature track and yet despite a fantastic opening it quickly veers away from the simple, catchy verse-chorus structure it establishes into a long spoken/shouted digression we don’t really need to hear. Still, the band’s execution is beyond brilliant and watching Reed perform you can really let yourself believe that you’re witnessing something truly special and original, even if he was born about fifty years out of time.