Super Furry Animals @ Metro 2/16/08

I hold these truths to be self evident: 1. Super Furry Animals are one of the top ten bands of all time.  2. The Super Furry Animals put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.  3. Out of all of the bands putting out music in the world today, the Super Furries are one of the most creative, dynamic, and perhaps just downright weird bands I’ve ever heard or witnessed in the flesh.

The night began with Jeffrey Lewis, a NYC based singer/songwriter who is classified as "anti-folk" but seems to definitely have some folk influences in his music.  Even his covers of Crass songs felt stripped down with hime just focusing on his acoustic guitar and somewhat rambling vocals. His own songs were perhaps used in his own life to help him explore his identity, with the best of the set being "Williamsburg WIll Oldham Horror." Perhaps adding the greatest amount of personality to his set was the use of "music videos" which were storyboard drawings about universal subjects like it's what is on the inside that matters and a crawling hand that leads you to a monster. (Perhaps, the first was actually more universal). 

Download: Jeffrey Lewis - "Posters"

Times New Viking , a three piece out of Ohio has received some critical acclaim based on their distorted guitar fuzz sound but they felt unengaging and sloppy instead.  I couldn't help feeling that they had been overhyped as I could not hear any distinct aspects of their songs, the vocals being the most buried. If this band has any kind of message to the world, it will surely be missed as it's pretty much impossible to hear what they are saying. 

Super Furry Animals' set was definitely without the doubt the most accomplished of the three, making Saturday night’s show at Metro fit in with their best live performances. This was the fourth time I’ve seen them and every time I see they are making the trip from Wales to my city, my heart wells in its own fit of glee. I firmly believe this band has changed the world with its music and will hopefully continue to do so for a very long time to come. When you see them live, it’s just fantastic and brilliant. The songs you’ve grown to love are taken to a whole new level giving them their own altered personalities. Unlike many other bands' shows where I’m checking the clock to see how much longer until they finish, I stood there hoping the SFA set will never end.

Their live set this time was slightly more subdued costume wise (only lead singer Gruff Rhys only wore his large helmet for a couple of songs to mark the beginning and end. And this performance was also missing the video component they’ve brought with them in the past), but this could not deter the glory of some of my favorite songs performed with such energy that you couldn’t help thinking of a band of mythological proportions.  “Golden Retriever” was a definite highlight with such a drive to it in the guitar playing and such dynamic stage presence that it was difficult not to be in complete awe.  “Receptacle for the Respectable” was also flawless with Gruff making live carrot crunching sound effects. They also played my favorite song of their entire catalog, "Zoom!" which filled the club with orchestral pop wonder. Though Hey Venus! has not impacted me as much as Love Kraft, they played my favorite two songs from that including “Into the Night” and “Baby Ate My Eightball.” Their most recent eighth studio album to date definitely shows the band continuing to explore their psych rock roots but with some more ballady numbers tucked between such as “Suckers!” You also have to respect a band that holds up signs asking to avoid phony encores, even if it means that the night of music is over.  It’s more real that way and it ends on a perfect high note, this time with the glorious “Cosmic Trigger.”

Click to see the complete photoset

Setlist:

Comments

[Bill V]

Loved the show, I had never seen them before.

[Kirstie]

They really are (obviously) one of my very very favorite bands...can't say enough good things about them. I'm pretty obsessed with their music.