Annuals/Manchester Orchestra @ Rock and Roll Hotel
The pairing seems a little odd at first glance...and even at second glance. Raleigh's artsy Annuals project an Animal Collective meets Arcade Fire sound, whereas Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra feels more like an emo band in Whiskeytown clothing. They certainly didn't attract the same group of fans and in between sets there was a visible changing of the guard in the area right in front of the stage.
Still, the co-headliners actually have a lot in common. Both young bands from Southern states have gone from virtually unknown to major label record deals over the course of the past year and both have spent that time period touring relentlessly as opening acts for any and everybody. Both acts were ready to shift to headliner status and each brought egregious amounts of energy and intensity to their sets.
Manchester Orchestra is one of those "next-big-thing" acts that don't seem to live up to the hype generated in the blogosphere and in major publications. Andy Hull (who came on his own to the Rock and Roll Hotel last week with Owen and Kevin Devine) certainly has perfected the role of the booze-fueled singer-songwriter. His lyrical prowess is inarguably potent and this became very clear during songs like "Golden Ticket" and “Where Have You Been,” which Hull introduced as “probably everyone’s favorite” from I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child. The band also had the uncanny ability to switch immediately from sullen and introspective to explosive and red-faced, and back again. Still, Hull's vocal range (whiny to scream-o fabulous) is grating and the band's awkward attempts at banter were obviously delivered in a liquored-up haze. Their fans may have been sold on the performance, but anyone who wasn't already a fan wasn't going to become one based on that performance. In short: I still don't get it.
Annuals, however, delivered the sort of performance that probably changed a few minds. While Be He Me can be overly layered and unaccessible at points, the unabating urgency of Annuals' live show was enough to keep the front of the audience rapt. Furthermore, there was always a question of just what instrument Adam Baker would switch to next. Over the course of the night he sat behind the drum kit, beat on his own spare tom, played the keyboards, played the guitars and took lead vocal duties...sometimes all in the course of one song. He also came dangerously close to licking his keyboard, and when he got a positive response from the audience, celebrated like an athlete who had just scored a winning goal.
They could also improvise. When the liquored-up Hull joined the band in an unplanned collaboration for "Brother," the band took the opportunity and ran with it. Although intensely energetic bassist Mike Robinson looked thoroughly confused and guitarist Kenny Florence later admitted that the move caught them completely off guard - it was one of the greatest displays of vocal harmonies in a set chock full of them. Although the set consisted primarily of tracks from Be He Me and their B-sides, they finished off with a track from their forthcoming album entitled "Do You Like It" which ended in a cacophony of screamed good-byes from Baker and made for a fitting end to a show full of banged up keyboards and abused vocal cords.
Photo by Chris Napa from the Annuals show in Winston-Salem, NC. Used with permission.