Wolf Parade – House of Blues Chicago – 7/8/08
Posted July 9th, 2008 · Artists: Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade is just one of those bands that is just really fucking in the zone right now, with a superb album that is my favorite of ’08 so far, building buzz around said album, and a big ole tour to go out and blow some minds, and they showed their prowess once again last night at the House of Blues in downtown Chicago. They are one of those bands that I would put in the indie ‘elite’ as far as bands that pretty much bring solid gold with everything they do, and that certainly includes their live show. Although it was a strange evening at the HOB, they melted many a face and generally blew me away once again.
My first live experience with Wolf Parade was last year in a lightly attended set at the Download Festival at Northerly Island back in September, where they played a lot of songs from “Apologies”, but also played a lot of songs that ended up on the new album “At Mount Zoomer”. They left such a strong impression with a just awesome performance back then I remembered hearing most of those songs live when I listened to the new album. Despite a very small crowd back then, they kicked ass, and with a humongous crowd last night they kicked even more ass.
A side note about the weirdness of the night. First of all the HOB does suck, and I wouldn’t be sad if I never saw that place ever again honestly. I had my foot stomped on, beer spilled on me, it was mega-crowded, and a dude literally took a piss right in the middle of the floor. Yes, that’s right, he pissed right in the middle of the floor that was packed to the gills. The strangest thing I have ever seen at a show. The crowd in front of me at one point kind of started to part a bit and people start looking around like “for real?” and word got around quick that this dude was pissing on the floor (or himself I guess). He did get thrown out (thank god), but there was a remaining pool of piss on the floor that was pretty sizable. I mean you have to be fucking kidding me.
On the good end of the spectrum of out of control crowd there was a lot of crowd surfing going on, which the security wasn’t really ever able to stop, so in security’s face. As you could guess the crowd was going apeshit for pretty much everything they threw at us, from the opening notes of “Language City” through “Fancy Claps”, which just kicks total ass live. They hit us with a pretty good amount from the first album, and was obviously heavy on the new one, which was fine with me because the new songs sound great live. They were all great, “Soldier’s Grin”, “Fine Young Cannibals”, an awesome version of “Kissing the Beehive”, and especially super awesome versions of “Call It A Ritual” and “California Dreamer” (awesome awesome). Of course “Grounds For Divorce”, “I’ll Believe In Anything” (really fucking awesome version of this), “Sons and Daughters” made awesome appearances from the first album as well. Although the crowd did respond well to the new songs, and the new songs were awesome live, the crowd certainly had a tendency to go apeshit on the opening notes of any song from “Apologies”.
They have a truly awesome live sound that is really energetic and all of the instruments on stage just build absolutely perfect together to just create a face-melting wave of greatness. Last night they showed once again why they are one of the premier bands out there today, certainly part of the cream of the crop, head and shoulders above most other acts out there. Especially when you consider the incredibly solid two albums they have, which are both awesome, they really bring it live with even more force and energy, so it is really a complete experience.
Anyway, like I said, in my opinion, this is one of the top bands going today, and they are really at the prime of their career right now, and just in perfect, face-melting form. They have more tour dates this summer here, and if you live in these cities, you just need to go see these guys. Trust me, don’t argue, just go, you won’t regret it.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
July 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
July 12 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
July 13 – Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Park
July 15 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
July 17 – San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
July 18 – Hollywood, CA @ Henry Fonda
July 19 – Hollywood, CA @ Henry Fonda
July 20 – San Diego, CA @ Cane’s
July 21 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
July 24 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
July 25 – Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
July 26 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
July 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
July 29 – Raleigh, NC @ Disco Rodeo
July 30 – Philly, PA @ Electric Factory
July 31 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
Aug 2 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
Aug 3 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
Aug 9 – Toronto, ON @ Koolhaus
Wolf Parade – The Grey Estates – From At Mount Zoomer
