Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, British Columbia
Last Friday, the Dandy Warhols, one of my favourite bands since eighth grade, returned to the Commodore Ballroom in support of their newest album This Machine. Even though I wasn't able to see them with my best friend who loves them as much as I do this time, unlike when they played the Commodore two Decembers ago, it was still one of the best times of my life, let alone one of the most fun shows I've seen.
San Fran psych-rockers Sleepy Sun opened the night. Despite their generic psychedelia, they had a few impressive moments which was more than I'd expected based on their latest album Spine Hits (ATP Recordings, 2012). Lead-singer Bret Constantino's electronic harmonica-type thing, which was shaped like a fist-sized box, sounded pretty cool, too.
As the mediocre portion of the night drew to a close, it was time for what everyone in the building was chomping at the bit to see. The Dandy Warhols emerged with keyboardist Zia McCabe and guitarist Pete Holmström in particular looking as fashionable as ever. Pete also looked as disengaged from the rest of the band as ever, even physically as he stood the furthest away from everyone else; I often wonder how much he enjoys being in the Dandies, especially considering his outspokenness against the band's creative process.
With the crowd still roaring, the Dandies began not with a bang with one of their big pop hits but by drawing out the audience's anticipation with the hazy, rush-building "Be In." It didn't take long for the Dandies to bust out their myriad pop-hits, though, and when they did, they pulled out pretty much all the stops: the breathtaking one-two combo of "Horse Pills" and "Bohemian Like You" (literally breathtaking: try singing these songs back-to-back at the top of your lungs with my recent respiratory problems amidst a blanket of pot smoke), "Get Off," "Last Junkie," "We Used To Be Friends," "Boys Better," "Minnesoter," the most surprisingly good song of the night for me (I love the song, but it was even better live than I'd expected) ... Then, there were the other best songs of the night: the sultry "I Love You," "You Come in Burned" which sounds so much more exotic live with Courtney playing the clacky percussion that while not terribly audible on record rang throughout the venue, and the washboard, ranch-clopper "Country Leaver."
Of course, the Dandies couldn't cram all of their most popular songs into their set. In fact, I don't think they played any songs from either Odditorium or Earth To the Dandy Warhols ... which was too bad mainly because I'd really looked forward to hearing the slow version of "New Country" again; their twangy, countrified version of "New Country" was amazing and one of the top highlights of the last time I saw them. Lead-Dandy Courtney Taylor-Taylor played a slow, solo version of "Every Day Should Be a Holiday" on electric guitar, though. That was a pretty acceptable trade-up.
Also different this time around was an awesome keyboard freestyle by Zia that was full of fat, warpy, spaceship tones and which Brent DeBoer and Courtney joined (Brent of course on drums and Courtney with a lot of palm-mutes and random noises with his mouth).
Unfortunately, a few more songs after that groovy freestyle (maybe even just a couple), the Dandies wrapped up their show. They didn't play an encore, but unlike probably a lot of people, I actually didn't mind: not only did the Dandy Warhols play long enough that I didn't feel cheated without more music, but the entire encore process is pretty hokey and feels so canned/phoned in. Also, Zia was "drunk enough" to sing a cute little unaccompanied ditty at the end of the night, so that was enough of a bonus for me.
Click here for photos from the show.
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