The Spin: The Raconteurs at the Cannery
The Spin heard the soundtrack to the summer of ’08 last night, and The Raconteurs played it. Remember driving around in your crapmobile the Saturday after school let out, cranking up the classic-rock station for all those soaring endless-youth choruses and twin-guitar harmonies and full-band jams with the sweet sweet musk of vinyl? Life imitated Dazed and Confused all over again as the Racs geared up for their summer tour with the first show of their sold-out two-night stand at the Cannery Ballroom.
The mysterious Magic Wands—boy, girl, drum machine and trippy projected backdrop—didn’t play long enough to wear out the novelty of their unicorny odes to teenage love and the dark arts, like some sci-fi convention hybrid of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Berlin and Timbuk 3. Instead, their engaging, smartly timed 20-minute set left people wanting more of their ground-glass bubblegum choruses and crashing-wave guitars.
They made a pleasingly odd counterpoint to the Raconteurs—who, by contrast, hit the stage swinging their dicks like Louisville Sluggers and socked every song into the rafters. Releasing their new CD Consolers of the Lonely only in specially marked boxes of Count Chocula or whatever evidently paid off, as even Jack White, looking like an escapee from the Basement Tapes jacket-photo shoot, expressed surprise at how quickly the audience had absorbed its lyrics and la-la-la sing-alongs.
No wonder: from the grinding opening groove of “Consoler of the Lonely,” every hook-loaded, arm-windmilling song sounds as though the sun had melted a whole stack of Who, Badfinger, Thin Lizzy and Boston LPs into a foot-thick brick of Super Seventies goodness. Literally finishing each others’ thoughts in a kind of live stereo separation, White and mop-top co-leader Brendan Benson swapped verses and swatted rhythm-guitar riffs back and forth on “Hold Up,” “Old Enough” and the band’s early signature single “Steady as She Goes.” The songs all depend on sudden stops and dramatic zero-to-60 shifts in dynamics, and drummer Patrick Keeler and the bass player—introduced as Jack Lawrence, but a dead ringer for one of Slap Shot’s Hanson Brothers—took every curve like a Formula One racer.
The whole band is fearsomely tight, even though the arena-rocking songs beg for more interaction (with the audience and each other) than the group showed last night; at times, the Raconteurs as a band resemble five fingers on different hands that somehow clench into a single fist. But that’s a quibble. That thing on the floor after the closing “Carolina Drama,” wet and dripping? That was your face, rocked off.
As for the venue, the last-minute switch from the Mercy Lounge to the Cannery had the advantage of letting in lots more people (most of them six-foot-plus and down front) while frustrating scalpers. Unfortunately, it had the disadvantage of putting the show in the Cannery. The sweltering L-shaped catacombs with the undersea acoustics turned the hellacious climax of “Blue Veins” into a murk of indistinguishable noise. It did the band no favors for presentation, but it did allow them to pack in a hometown crowd that was unusually responsive—like, breathing and everything!
Comments
jack lawrence is probably nashville's best kept bass playing phenomen...well not anymore. and he's super nice!
Posted 04/15/2008 at 11:07:23 AMI see him at Red Door East all the time so he must be a cool dood. And he does look like a Hansen brother.
Posted 04/15/2008 at 11:23:36 AM"swinging their dicks like Louisville Sluggers"
Wow.
Posted 04/16/2008 at 08:10:08 AMthe crowd was lame.
Posted 04/16/2008 at 09:31:06 AMOverheard down front:
Tall woman snaking her way through crowd: "I'm OK now, but I think I forgot my deodorant this morning."
Short woman planted behind Jay and Silent Bob: "As long as I get to see Jack White, I'll be all right."
Six-foot-seven human tank plowing through crowd: " 'Scuse me, homes."
My favorite new club phenomenon: people standing side by side having mid-show conversations via IM.
Posted 04/16/2008 at 12:54:06 PMThere are a few awesome crowd shot videos on youtube of the show. There was one of Magic Wands, but it's been taken down. Go figure.
The Raconteurs looked tight as hell, though. Jack White's my new guitar hero!
Posted 04/16/2008 at 03:21:40 PMI thought I was at both of these shows, but after reading the review of the Magic Wands sets, I now believe I was just in some alternate universe at the time.
"..left people wanting more..."
??????????
Tuesday night I actually heard someone say they wish they could die after seeing that. The crowd reaction would suggest that many others thought the same. I understand they're new and only have a few songs so far, but wow...it was really bad in my opinion.
I try not to get down on bands, but the only reason their 20 minutes was "smartly timed" was because the crowd did not like it. There was only a smattering of applause on either night. Most of that seemed like clapping out of respect.
Someone now explain to me why Magic Wands are the second coming. Because I heard nothing original coming out of those two people or their backing track.
I thought I might be the only one who thought this for awhile, but after seeing crowd reaction and checking out message boards reviews of the shows, I am obviously not in the minority.
LEFT PEOPLE WANTING MORE? EXPLAIN!
Posted 04/17/2008 at 07:18:41 AMWho said they're the second coming? We said they didn't play long enough to wear out the novelty of their shtick--meaning if they'd played longer, they probably would have. But there was more than a smattering of applause Monday night: hardly a crowd-goes-wild response, but longer and more enthusiastic than a lot of opening acts get. I'm sure a lot of people hated them, but name me a local band with an opening gig that sweet--at least I think those mystic Wands are local--that people wouldn't slag.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 08:35:57 AMMagic Wands are the new Movement Nashville.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 09:26:10 AMAnd Darrin with the ZING!!!!
Posted 04/17/2008 at 10:30:45 AMI actually like The Raconteurs less b/c they allowed the Magic Wands to open those shows.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 10:54:42 AMJust wanted to add, I didn't get tickets to either of these shows. I was "too late" I guess on the ticket buying website even though I got on at EXACTLY 10am when they went on sale. Regardless, The Raconteurs are great Both of their albums are great and I hope they continue on and on till they sense that they are going to start to suck, then they stop before they get there. I wish I could write and play that well and had a band that cool.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 11:04:20 AMYou wish you could write that well? I wish the Raconteurs had a single song as wall-to-wall killer as "Ears to the Ground" or "Can't Love No One" off the What Four? album.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 11:17:19 AMI do agree that they didn't wear out the novelty of their shtick (which after saying a few times cracks me up), but to say that people applauded longer and more enthusiastically than most other opening bands....I did not hear that at all.
Were you there on Tuesday too? They at least tried to get the crowd riled up for the Raconteurs. Unfortunately they couldn't do it with their music. It took the mystery girl screaming to get us to do that. Didn't they used to call the opening band the "warm-up" band? For a reason perhaps? To get the crowd warmed up? Ready to rock.
Maybe it's the Racontuers fault for choosing a "warmp-up" act that couldn't properly get the crowd riled up. It's just that after reading your description of the Wands set, I got the impression that the crowd really loved it, and I would say as a whole the crowd hated or was indifferent (shocker!) towards it.
No disrespect to those guys. I know they're just getting started. But your view of their set seems a little skewed.
How many people did they leave wanting more? That was my biggest problem. Am I being nitpicky? At any rate, I do thank you for the review. Good job besides trying to make people think they went over like gangbusters.
I can't name you any local bands that would get a better eception at a show this good, but I CAN tell you about 50 bands that Magic Wands were trying to sound like.
Of course I imagine there are plenty of people who could do the same for The Raconteurs. Not my cup of tea? Damn straight.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 01:20:02 PMI do agree that they didn't wear out the novelty of their shtick (which after saying a few times cracks me up), but to say that people applauded longer and more enthusiastically than most other opening bands....I did not hear that at all.
Were you there on Tuesday too? They at least tried to get the crowd riled up for the Raconteurs. Unfortunately they couldn't do it with their music. It took the mystery girl screaming to get us to do that. Didn't they used to call the opening band the "warm-up" band? For a reason perhaps? To get the crowd warmed up? Ready to rock.
Maybe it's the Racontuers fault for choosing a "warmp-up" act that couldn't properly get the crowd riled up. It's just that after reading your description of the Wands set, I got the impression that the crowd really loved it, and I would say as a whole the crowd hated or was indifferent (shocker!) towards it.
No disrespect to those guys. I know they're just getting started. But your view of their set seems a little skewed.
How many people did they leave wanting more? That was my biggest problem. Am I being nitpicky? At any rate, I do thank you for the review. Good job besides trying to make people think they went over like gangbusters.
I can't name you any local bands that would get a better eception at a show this good, but I CAN tell you about 50 bands that Magic Wands were trying to sound like.
Of course I imagine there are plenty of people who could do the same for The Raconteurs. Not my cup of tea? Damn straight.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 01:20:12 PMBah. I always forget to add my name before I send.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 01:23:33 PMAnyone have a setlist from Tuesday?
Posted 04/17/2008 at 01:32:05 PMIt's possible the Raconteurs didn't pick the opener. A lot of shows get decided by the band's agency, who rep for several bands, and often throw one of their baby bands on the bill of a more established band to get them exposure.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 01:55:23 PMThe Magic Wands weren't a good opening band choice. In fact, they were downright boring. Maybe Nashville doesn't have another band that would've been a better warm up band, but Memphis has the Infidelles!, and they would have had the crowd properly rocking and ready for the Raconteurs. It would have been great. I thought that the minute that I heard the Magic Wands. The Raconteurs were awesome, by the way.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 02:34:24 PMNO TROLLS IN THE MAGICAL KINGDOM!
Posted 04/17/2008 at 07:35:46 PMThe Magic Wands were boring, pretentious beyond belief awful.
The Features would have made a great opening act for this show. Elizabeth Grace would have been cool, also.
Whatever. I was there to see the headliners and it was way worth anything I had to sit through.
Posted 04/17/2008 at 11:20:31 PMi was there tuesday and one reason the wands may have been approved to play might have been b/c they had no drums, bass, keys, etc to clutter the stage. that's pretty much a stage manager / sound guy's dream.
it could have been out of convenience since it was about 1 guitar and 2 mics needed for the opener and the rac could leave everything in place and setup.
needless to say, many other nashville bands were jealous and dumbfounded to see a local band they've never heard of open BOTH nighs. kudos to whoever got that setup.
Posted 04/18/2008 at 07:58:04 AMUm, this band isn't exactly unknown. At least one of them looked rather familiar to me.
Posted 04/19/2008 at 11:17:08 AMWhy won't they let people upload fan-shot videos of them on youtube?
Posted 04/20/2008 at 04:52:36 PMI had a bouncer get me a set list and it got snagged.
Posted 04/20/2008 at 08:01:42 PMand what's up with the raconteurs leaving right after, I wanted a
picture!! If anyone has the set list for Tue night, please post it.