"Let's all play in the key of C to get the levels right." Those were the words uttered by front man Anton Newcombe when they first took the stage last night at the Crystal Ballroom here in Portland. Having been to a few shows myself, it was a bit odd to have a band "check the levels" upon taking the stage (that's what the roadies are for, right?!?), but this isn't any ordinary band. Anton is a notorious control freak that has boasted more than 40 to 50 band members in it's existence. For any of you that are unfamiliar with his antics, I highly recommend picking up the documentary "DIG!"
After playing a few bars, they proceeded to rip through their extensive catalog of psychedelic, shoegazing, garage rock. The second song of the set was Vacuum Boots, one of my all time favorites, and with that they had me hooked for the rest of their 2 1/2 hour set. After a dozen more songs, Matt Hollywood broke into Oh Lord and almost brought the house down.
This was almost a DIG! reunion of sorts, with the familiar cast of Hollywood, and the hilarious Joel Gion on tambourine. When they played Not If You Were the Last Dandy On Earth, Zia from The Dandy Warhols (Portland natives) came out on stage to join the party. "Bah, bah, bah...take my money!" The return of Hollywood was great, because he played such an important part in their early recordings, and I think lasts night show would have wrung hallow otherwise.
The show ended with the encore of That Girl Suicide, which is truly one of the best songs ever. If you need a song to download from iTunes, look that one up. It was a perfect ending coming from a band that has somehow eluded me for more than six years. Sans the in-between song diatribes from Anton, it was one of the better concerts I've seen lately. It definitely ranks up there with some my tops -- Radiohead, U2, Wilco, Sigur Ros, and the Smashing Pumpkins to name a few. Not bad company guys, not bad at all.
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