The Sea and Cake
Hideout, Chicago (August 30, 2000)
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The Sea & Cake
Hideout, Chicago
August 30, 2000 |
The band's first proper show in three years, fittingly, did not breed any jittery nerves among the band or audience Wednesday night at Chicago's cozy Hideout club. It was, as expected, a comfortable affair, with patrons admiring the carpeted stage from booths along the wall or standing under strung colored christmas lights.
To say the band hasn't played a show in three years is a bit misleading, of course. The group's members, vocalist/guitarists Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt, bassist Eric Claridge and drummer John McEntire, have all regularly performed in various entities and the band has been rehearsing together and recording the forthcoming Oui for the better part of the summer.
But it did feel like a special night as Prekop began earnestly strumming on his guitar and was joined quickly by his bandmates. A late summer night, happy people, and feel-good music. You can't really go wrong with that combination. The first of two shows at the Hideout was sold-out, but not crammed past capacity with concertgoers. And since the venue could clearly have sold as many tickets as they wanted, the afforded elbow room was appreciated.
The music was a nice preview of Oui, with a couple of older tracks -- including 1994's "Jacking The Ball" -- thrown in. Gently flowing, summery tunes were the order of the evening, although at times the rhythm section worked the band into furious rock-out form.
McEntire showed his considerable drumming prowess throughout the night, displaying a precision and inventiveness rarely found in such relaxed pop music. He and Claridge gave the music its pop, while Prewitt painted beautiful melodic lines around Prekop's song-root strumming and a guest keyboardist added texture and interesting sub-melodies.
It was the kind of night that makes you feel lucky. Lucky to live in the same city as such talented musicians, lucky to have picked up that pair of tickets at Reckless Records before they sold out, and just generally lucky to be alive in summer with a couch to relax on.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.