The stars have aligned yet again, and Megan and i found ourselves enjoying the same concert together in one another's company. As such, expect her take on things shortly. In the meantime, i'm guessing mine will be the only one of the two that admits to a troubling fascination with Carla Azar's drumming, but who knows? Maybe Meg will surprise us both.i try not to get too effusive about Autolux, as i invariably focus in on my own infatuation with Ms. Azar, who, as far as i'm concerned, is the greatest female drummer out there today, and probably in the top ten drummers over all, if i can be both honest and sexist at the same time. i'm not sure what it is about the band, but every time i see them (and this was at least my fifth show, if not more), i find myself uncontrollably bobbing my head. While George Clinton or Prince might get my booty shaking more, or House of Pain might make me jump more, no other band i've ever seen has that same hypnotic effect on me that Autolux does. And this time around at the Black Cat, things were no different.
The band played pretty equally from both albums, but the clear winners of the night were from debut album, Future Perfect. And it's easy to see why, as the band has had the time to make them anthemic and intimate at the same time, truly mastering the tracks in a live setting. Tracks like "Blanket" and "Robots in the Garden" had the house swaying. In an obviously crowd pleasing mood, Azar not only rocked the skins all night, she was given more vocal duties than i can recall her ever being given at any of the past shows i've attended.
If there was any complaint to be had, i'd argue bandmates Eugene Goreshter (lead vocals, bass) and Greg Edwards (guitar, vocals) both went a tad overboard on the reverb. What i couldn't tell is if that was their doing or the Cat's older speakers simply not having the juice left to handle the boys' desired effect. The sad part is these guys write killer hooks, and according to my brother, "if you didn't know those songs, you could hardly tell what they were playing." Except, of course, for the steady, almost robotic hand of Azar. No matter how far afield the boys might wander, she was there to anchor each song methodically. In a fitting gesture, as the band closed the set, each member walked off stage without saying a word. The boys left first, leaving Azar to hold the fort and soak up the last of the well deserved applause as the appreciative audience clapped and stomped and hollered.
i can't say it enough--if you're lucky enough to have Autolux blow through your burg, go. And thank me later.
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