Xiu Xiu, Sunset Rubdown – Neumo’s – 4/19/07

So tonight there was to be five minutes of silence and stopped service to raise awareness about the Mayor’s proposed nightlife regulations. I’d hoped that the minutes of silence would occur in the middle of Xiu Xiu’s set. That’s when it would have had the most impact, and it would have only increased the awkward tension already extant in the band’s live show.

As it was, the moment of silence occurred just before the band was to go on. The lights went down, the already quiet between-set background music went silent, and an unnecessarily spooky voice came on over the PA to deliver some vague rhetoric about what happens when nightlife is “regulated to death.” The five minutes didn’t feel that long or that contemplative. Most people just continued chatting and waiting for the band to go on.After Xiu Xiu took the stage is when the real hush descended. After an initial round of cheers for the band, the crowd was reverently silent. Every quiet, tender moment of Jamie Stewarts and company’s songs were met with absolutely mute appreciation.

Those tender moments were less frequent than the last time I’d seen Xiu Xiu, thanks in large part to the maniacal, borderline-autistic fits of relatively recent addition Ches Smith on drums (he also played vibraphone, thought without the same retarded energy). In my suggestion for this show, I mentioned that part of the fun of watching Xiu Xiu was in imagining that Stewart might break down in tears at any moment, but watching his athletic performance I realized that he seemed equally likely to kick my ass at any second.

Sunset Rubdown

I’d heard but not been terribly impressed with Sunset Rubdown, but I was completely blown away by thier live show. Spencer Krug’s piano was seismic in its force, shaking lampshades and liquifying the showroom floor, and his band—especially the girl on keys and xylophone—was energetic and equal to his tectonics.