THE KAISER CHIEFS + The Wallkmen + The Annuals @ Spectrum

By Katie Seline - Wrong Side of the Bed - 04/17/2007

There was something special about what would probably be the last show that I would see at the Spectrum. With my favourite venue scheduled to close its doors to be turned into a Best Buy or something equally atrocious, I think I could have gone to see any band and loved it. The Annuals, Walkmen and Kaiser Chiefs show may not have been spectacular, but it felt good to be back in a place that, in a way, I grew up in and to be able to say goodbye to it for the last time.

I’m usually late for shows and generally miss the first band, especially if there are three in the line-up. This time, however, because of the late scheduling of my interview with Matt Barrick from The Walkmen, I was able to catch the opening act The Annuals. This band absolutely blew me away. I had never heard of them before and completely overlooked them in the line-up, but was pleasantly surprised when they took the stage. Armed with about six or seven band members and two full drum kits with various other drums scattered between members, The Annuals packed a big punch. Their sound reminded me a lot of The Doves but louder, mixed in with The Music but better. Each band member added their own powerful dynamic and it seemed as though none of them were older than nineteen. The only downside to this band was that when I scoped out their stuff on the net, nothing I found compared to what I saw at the show. This is definitely a band to see live. For a close approximation to how powerful their sound was, check out "Brother" from their album Be He Me.

In all honesty, I was weary about The Walkmen’s set. I saw them in the fall last year during the CMJ Music Marathon in New York when they played at New York University and was less than impressed. This was disappointing because I had heard how amazing they were live from many people. At first it seemed that this show would have the same fate as the sound in the beginning of the set was less than perfect; however as everyone seemed to get used to each other, the band completely redeemed themselves. Oddly enough -- and I am not saying this because I met the guy -- Barrick is one of the best performing drummers I think I have ever seen. It was impressive to see him do his thing and you could hear others in the crowd commenting on this as well. I get a huge kick out of the fact that this band still plays on incredibly beaten up equipment but still manages to sound amazing. I am thrilled that they sounded amazing in the first place considering my past experience with them. Word on the street is that they’ve sold one of their songs to the new Spider Man movie soundtrack, which is sort of sad despite the fact that this band is no stranger to licensing their stuff to commercial television and film, but other than maybe "The Rat" and one or two others, this song was by far one of the best ones they played. All of the new stuff sounded amazing, which hopefully will mean a fabulous new album on par with Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone and Bows + Arrows.

Last but not least, the Kaiser Chiefs took the stage. If you like what the Kaiser Chiefs do, they do it really well. I unfortunately really am not into what they do so their set didn’t do much for me. I am a sucker for a base drum and a synthesizer or a good hook so I enjoyed such numbers as "Na Na Na Na Na" but that’s pretty much where it ended. The kids had a good time and the band put on a good set. Frontman Ricky Wilson reminded me a lot of Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav in the way he interacted with the crowd and his general stage presence. That’s pretty much where the comparison ended. I didn’t stick around for the whole set but like I said, if you like them, they do their job well. Their fans seemed to eat it all up and love it.

P.S. You know you are getting old when you can’t remember the last time you went to a show where the kids are jumping up and down. I need to get out more.

[Wrong Side Of The Bed airs every Wednesday from 5 to 7 PM only on CJLO. Also be sure to tune in this week, April 25th to catch Katie’s interview with Matt Barrick of The Walkmen.]