CHRIS WALKER VS. LOUIS XIV AT THE INDEPENDENT

On the opening song of Louis XIV’s set, Jason Hill, lead singer and guitarist, all swagger and attitude, approached the microphone and slithered in his signature style, “A party just isn’t a party…without me to start it”. He was right.

It had been a night of mediocrity at The Independent up until then. Oakland’s Audrye Sessions started things off an hour late with their forgettable, cookie-cutter rock. Every song sounded alike and if it weren’t for the very attractive bass player, Ms. Alicia Campbell, and the well-poured Vodka Red Bulls I might’ve been upset. After Audrye Sessions we were treated to the egotistical sound of Brent Messenger and his band, Every Move A Picture. I liked Every Move A Picture three years ago when all they had was an EP, then I pretty much forgot about them, then I saw them a couple months ago at Rickshaw Stop and was actually impressed, then I saw them last Friday at The Independent and couldn’t wait for them to get off the stage. It was boring, like paint-by-numbers rock and roll. At the end of the set Messenger had the balls to say, “Thanks to all of you who came out specifically to see us,” Really, dude? How about, “Thanks to Louis XIV – who rock faces – for having us out so you don’t completely forget our band exists”? I will give Every Move A Picture this: they’ve got an insanely talented drummer.

After a couple more Vodka Red Bulls, and an encounter with a husky, early 20-year-old guy who smelled like feet (and eventually relocated after my sister and I repeatedly proclaimed someone smelled like feet), Louis XIV took the stage. Brian Karscig donned his new(ish) Amish look; Mark Maigaard, as always, was a beacon of blonde and white; James Armbrust was a pillar of sensibility, and Hill – probably several drinks deep – was his trademark disheveled self. All wore suits; Hill spit a lot.

The four wasted no time tearing into “The Grand Apartment”, declaring their arrival, and I finally came out of my lulled-by-shitty-music coma.

The band played all their hits and fan favorites including (but not limited to) “Paper Doll”, “Louis XIV”, “God Killed the Queen”, “A Letter to Dominique”, as well as my favorite, “Illegal Tender”. Four new songs were worked into the set and they even pulled out a song from their self-titled release (now out of print), “The Hunt”, which Hill, strumming an acoustic guitar, prefaced by saying it was the first time they’d played it since his favorite guitar had been broken on tour in Europe. It was flawless. Perhaps just as impressive as the music was Hill’s drink intake. According to my sister, he came onto the stage with at least two Martinis and after announcing, “I’ve run out of martinis,” was quickly brought three more – which he quickly consumed. Talk about rock and roll.

Deep into a fantastic, memorable set, Karscig stepped behind the piano a final time and started playing. Hill asked the crowd, “Does anyone recognize this song yet?” to which everyone screamed, then the band roared into their best known track, “Finding Out True Love Is Blind”. Eveyone yelled out the key phrase at all the right moments and rocked along just as hard as they had the rest of the time. One hell of a way to end a show. Hands down, one of my favorite live performances I’ve ever seen.

And in case you’re disappointed by the pictures I’ll have you know I’m quite fond of the blur and overabundance of heads because I wasn’t supposed to take pictures during the show. I’d asked security beforehand, one guard said pictures were fine as long as I kept the flash off while another said I could only take pictures during the first two bands. I decided to cautiously listen to the former, snapping shots of Louis XIV sparsely, without being too obvious.

Catch Louis XIV on tour with The Killers; visit the official site for show dates:

[Official] Louis XIV
[MySpace] Louis XIV
[MySpace] Every Move A Picture
[MySpace] Audrye Sessions
[Official] The Independent

Posted: May 30th, 2007 | Author: Chris Walker | Filed under: Every Move A Picture, Louis XIV, The Independent | No Comments »