Sunset Rubdown @ Southgate House, Newport KY 10/03/06

Yesterday was hellacious for a few reasons. Well, namely just one reason. EZArchive became the thorn in my side starting at 4 PM and didn't remove itself until right now. I crafted a nifty little post around 2 PM yesterday and attempted to upload MP3s until 11 PM with no luck. This is when I'm glad there are two people on IGIF - so God bless Connor and his many posts. The only (major) highlight of my musically frustrating day was getting to see Sunset Rubdown.

Connor and I had gotten to see Sunset Rubdown at the Pitchfork Pre-Show this past July and were, needless to say, absolutely blown away. I hadn't seen a show with that much intese energy in a good while, so I was naturally in awe of Krug's abilities onstage. While there were 2,000 or so people in attendance at the Pitchfork show, there were about 25 people standing in front of the stage last night. What did I expect? Lots of things. I'd seen Wolf Parade three times and never thought they were anything great in person, but after seeing Rubdown in Chicago my opinion of Krug shifted dramatically.

Last nights show was full of two things: energy and banter. I've never seen so much energy, intimate energy at that, between four people and classroom sized audience. Between broken guitar strings, multiple sweat headbands, and a vocal audience - Krug and company somehow find time to talk to the audience between each song for a solid 2 minutes. Some people hate when musicians talk and would rather hear their muisc - I personally love the awkward banter. Krug made fun of their lag between songs, applauded everyone for attending a concert on a Tuesday, and attempted to explain why you shouldn't play a song that belongs to two bands.

Southgate House provided amazing acoustics for Krug's non-traditional voice and allowed for them to play songs "that will sound nice in here." I went with two friends who had never heard more than one song by Rubdown and left with their jaws to the floor and a new t-shirt. Opening for Rubdown was a solo artist going by the alias Beaver. He was icredibly good and had a unique sound that made it obvious why Krug brought him on tour (expect a full post on Beaver). I got the chance to chat with Spencer after the show for a little bit, who is socially awkward (surprise surprise), and got a few tidbits about Swan Lake. Krug said that the group and recording experience was very different - which could mean many things coming from the mouth of two three eccentric rock groups. He would like to do a tour with Swan Lake but said it wouldn't happen for a good while. Damn! Until then we can only catch him wearing two different personas.

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