I arrived to a half filled Black Cat last night, unsure what to expect from Danish superstars Mew. Their album, And The Glass Handed Kites, was one of the most interesting albums I heard last year, their fey yet bruising style of jangle prog a combination of Jeff Buckley’s tenderest falsetto moments and the whiplash of Bloc Party’s best Wedding Present imitation in one album that sequences connecting songs to great effect. However, the album has a fair bit of studio polish, and after hearing the band’s shaky KEXP performance at SXSW from earlier in the week, I was left wondering if the band could actually pull their sound off live. Well, I needn’t have worried, as they gave a stunning performance that was the highlight of my (admittedly light) concert calendar so far in 2007.
Thankfully, the band kept some of their song segues and made up new ones during the show, starting off with “Circuitry of the Wolf” and then moving right into “Am I Wry, No?” off of their recent domestic release of 2003’s Frengers (Friends + Strangers, get it?). The band had a unique set up on stage, with the drummer situated up front on stage right, leaving the back of the stage clear for their visual projections which often consisted of crude CGI animals playing various types of string instruments.
The group’s on stage demeanor was also a bit out of place, with lead singer Jonas Bjerre seemingly acting out the lead in a Broadway production – droopy, far away eyes and all – while the rest of the group flailed around like a proper band, attacking their songs with flair and fervor. Still, the dynamic suits them well, the pop gems “156,” “Chinaberry Tree” and “Snow Brigade” all sounded fantastic. After his voice warmed up following the first few songs, Bjerre had no problems hitting any of his notes; the only element lacking from the show, if anything, was proper backing vocals on a few songs. I was also impressed with band’s ability to keep the show moving along, despite dotting the set with some of their slower, more ethereal material. This is obviously a concern for them as well, at one point guitarist Bo Madsen said something along the lines of “Enough of this, time to dance!” before tearing into an uptempo number that snapped everyone out of their shoegazing slumber.
The highlight of the night, however, was the encore performance of “Special,” a song a few concert goers around me said they were waiting all night for. Madsen started riffing with the band’s drummer while the rest of the band slowly took the stage, launching into the song’s signature riff with a perfectly timed crescendo that had the audience going wild.
Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see opener Oh No! Oh My!, which is a shame, because I thought I’d see some of their set if got to the venue around 9:30 p.m. Alas, it was not meant to be, as they were breaking down their gear when I got upstairs. Did anyone see them? What did you think?
