Atlas Sound + White Rainbow + Carnivores @ Cabaret Du Mile End

Carnivores are an indie rock band from Atlanta comprised of Caitlin Lang (keys), Philip Frobos (bass), Nathaniel Higgins (guitar) and Ross Politi (drums). "Every woman, every man makes me feel the same" sang Philip Frobos in their catchy jingle "Dressed For The Rain". I feel like singing back, "Every indie band makes me feel the same." They're an interesting enough live act to keep an audience's attention; their only problem is that they didn't lose it on the stage until their last song, which was actually really intense and enjoyable to watch. Some bands have their off nights, and I'm sure that opening for Bradford Cox could be a little intimidating. They kept my head bopping and my mouth from yawning, which is more than you tend to expect from an opening act. This is only my opinion, though, so you should listen to them for yourself. I recommend their second album, If I'm Ancient.

White Rainbow is just one dude (Dr. Pizza) singing into a computer microphone through a vocoder surrounded by a few synthesizers and drum machines. He introduced his set with a song that sounded like "Suicide", but instead of hyped up bellowing and screaming, Dr. Pizza just kind of stumbled and mumbled through half of the set. Wearing a pair of aviators and bopping his head to his drifts, I decided to ignore his obnoxious demeanor, keep an open mind and just go with the flow. His set progressively improved as the audience started packing in. A couple of bros with snapbacks were really feelin' Dr.Pizza's tasty beats. I didn't find anything too interesting or intriguing as he seemed to half-assedly piece together little samples and cue arpeggios to make a song. He wasn't necessarily a boring showman; I just hated him, which is actually a good thing. He brought me into his world of bleeps and bloops and stirred an emotional response. What more could you possibly ask of Dr. Pizza?

Atlas Sound, man! Bradford Cox performed for an hour and a half all by his lonesome to ensure that every attendee heard something they wanted to hear. He didn't pull a "My Sharona" or perform fellatio on the microphone, he just played his beautiful, sweet, sad songs. He alternated between looping an acoustic guitar, a (really cool looking) bass, a Jazzmaster and, finally, drums, all while singing and playing with effect pedals; Bradford Cox knows his sound. Without any struggle or interruption, he made it seem easy to be a successful one man band (it's not an easy thing, by the way). It's safe to say that Cox is one of the most interesting indie figures of our time. Watching him play, hearing his words and sharp articulation was heartbreaking but satisfying. His live renditions built up very organically and pushed the audience to the point of exhaustion before he would tear down the wall of sound he was building around us. Halfway through the set he stopped playing to banter for about fifteen minutes. This is what threw me off the whole performance... he was hilarious! He made the audience laugh, which was a huge relief considering we had all just witnessed and entertained forty minutes of unadulterated sadness. After his fashion show with Dr. Pizza, he said, "Alright that's enough" and resumed the Atlas Sound experience. Twenty minutes passed and he left the stage with an encore of twenty more minutes. I was in love; my friends were ready to go to bed.

-Michael Cota