On the Road Again
Live Review
Live
The Warehouse, Toronto
Feb. 21, 1997
As a teaser before Live's full-scale tour for the new album Secret Samadhi,
the band announced a show in Toronto a scant two weeks before the gig,
selling out almost instantaneously the 2,000-capacity Warehouse.
Considering Live's last appearance here was at the 16,000-seat Molson
Amphitheatre, it's no surprise The Warehouse sold out in seconds. And it
was an odd crowd that bought up those tickets so quickly: I have a theory
that Live is the new metal band of the '90s, the pre-millenium Metallica,
perhaps. The crowd was overwhelmingly big-haired, heavy-drinking and
suburban, considering I thought Live was an "alternative" band. The handful
of baggy-panted kids in attendance were grossly outnumbered by an almost-30
crowd of hard music fans, and I found that somewhat surprising. Should I?
After all, the new album does walk down a heavier path, right from the
first single, with constant driving guitars and bass that were exhibited in
full force at the show.
As one friend casually mentioned half-way through the show, this wasn't supposed to be a CD release party - this was a concert for the fans, but Live paid no heed to the usual code of ethics, straying from their Throwing Copper singles and playing ten out of twelve songs from the new album.
The show opener, "Unsheathed," built slowly to a loud thump, while "Rattlesnake" followed, making full use of the wicked lighting rack the band brought with them, exposing the audience in an explosion of white light at the end of the song. Certainly a contender for a future single from Secret Samadhi, "Rattlesnake" was only the second song but it clinched the mood that prevailed for the rest of the set: not exactly high energy. I wondered if the band was perhaps tired, or out of practice on the live scene, but excuses aside, they just played. That's it. They just stood there and played. Great songs, mind you, but very little vibe was sent out to the audience, and thus just as little was sent back up to the stage. It was a rather dull show in terms of energy level, but the songs themselves saved the band from dismissal: Live writes incredible songs and plays them incredibly tightly live. A lack of enthusiasm can't take away from the fact that this band kicks ass when it comes to songwriting, both musically and lyrically, and at least that was conveyed successfully on stage.
Lead singer Edward - don't - call - me - Ed - anymore - I'm - all - growed - up - now Kowalcyzk was my sole reason for adoring Live three years ago when I first saw the band perform at the W.O.M.A.D. festival in upstate New York. He was manic! He jerked all over the place between his singing parts and had an intense energy that sucked me right into the show, and that just wasn't part of the set at the Warehouse. Sure, he managed a few Tai-Chi-like trademark moves at the end of the first song, but that's about it. For the whole night. He only talked after the third song, "Freaks," and that was to plug the new album in a mini-infomercial that smacked of self-serving attitude. "Turn My Head," the fourth song in a row from the new album now, carried the set to the first noticeable crowd-pleaser, "Shit Town," from Throwing Copper. Ed (oops! Edward) ditched his guitar for the next song, "Heropsychdreamer," another new one, and managed to liven up a little (note: all "Live" puns are fully intended...), taking the mic off its stand and panther-prowling a bit (awww..just like my old Eddie), and body-surfing seemed to spontaneously but sparingly commence at this point. "Iris" was recognized easily and welcomed by the crowd, then Edward grabbed his guitar again for the next song, another new one called "Ghost." A brief "How are we now?" introduced that song, but most of the time an uneasy silence greeted the space between songs, with no banter or connection on the band's part with the audience. "Century" followed, then a couple of familiar songs, then one from way out in left field. Considering it was a cover, Edward spent more words on it than on any of his self-penned songs this night - the band played a cover of the Psychedelic Furs' "Love My Way," which Edward explained was something the band doesn't do very often. Tthis song's by a band that was really important to us when we were younger," he said by way of introduction. And the cad behind me dared to lean over to his girlfriend and ask her if it was a Clash song, once Live launched into "Love My Way." Heathen! Child of bad '80s rock! Do you even know who the Furs are??!! May the god of New Wave have mercy on your soul! Live did a pretty faithful version, showing clearly how straight-ahead other bands sound when compared to Live's repertoire. The drums just seemed so 4/4 and straight compared to the rest of Live's own set, with its swirling, layered style and pounding, almost metal drums. Chad Gracey certainly worked for his supper tonight, pounding the skins with every cell in his body, but nonetheless was unable to make up for the other three members' lack of spark.
The crowd almost didn't respond after "Love My Way," which is a shame because I adored it, personally. Edward ditched the guitar again and the crowd perked up at the opening chords of "Spirit," but in general it was a pretty tame crowd anyway. "Graze," "Lakini's Juice" and "Gas Hed Goes West" tied up the neatly-executed set, with Edward thanking the crowd for coming. "It's been fun getting sweaty," he said, although I have a bone to pick with him on how little sweat I felt from where I was standing... "We should do this again some time," he continued. (Oh my gosh! More than one sentence in a row!) "Maybe we should have dinner first. It's kind of a slam-bam thing, don'tcha think?" he queried the unresponsive audience, to which I would have to reply that that's becuase the band made it seem like a slam-bam kind of experience, reserved and not quite comfortable.
An apathetic half-cheer went up from the crowd as the band left the stage, but the opening strains of "Lightning Crashes" sent the masses into a tizzy, finally, for the encore. You could hear the crowd louder than Edward on lines like, "The angel opens her eyes." He thanked everyone again for coming to the show and promised the band would return in the summer, and the band played "I Alone" as the closer, with the big rock ending, big fat guitar chords, big lights. No "Selling the Drama" (well, no drama at all, if you get my drift), no "White Discussion," and no "All Over You." That's just the way the band wants it, and I'm sure with time, I will appreciate the new songs as much as those favourites from the last album, but I can't help feeling that the band wasn't as into its performance as it once used to be. At the end of "I Alone," Chad chucked vast amounts of drum sticks into the audience as he left the stage while bassist Patrick Dahlheimer and guitarist Chad Taylor stayed behind for almost three minutes wanking feedback into their cabinets, backs to the audience, fooling around with the white noise until they tired of it. If only that loose freedom had been more prevalent throughout the show.
- Karen Pace