Show Recap: Emily Otnes and The Weekdays, Opus Dog, & more!
The cool factor of benefit shows and the cool factor of Pizza FM came together last night, synthesizing into the coolest thing since Kim and Kanye using a compass rose for naming inspiration. Maybe even cooler, because North West is only a cool name when it’s not your name. (And Pizza FM is/believes in a far more permanent, transcendent kind of cool.) Last night, of course, was the night of Friday, October 18, 2013 and the night of the first of two Pizza FM Benefit Shows slated for this weekend. This first show took place at Error Records and featured an eclectic but not whip-lash-inducing variety of local/local-to-the-American-Midwest artists.
To get the ball rolling, The Phantom Broadcast took the stage. Lots of impressive endurance exhibited with long (and definitely enjoyable) songs rounding off their set, plus plenty of time during their entire performance to admire their sheer enthusiasm and technical skill. While a definitive rock band, they showed off their diversity with jazz-infused moments, which was totally cool, to be shamelessly redundant. Like hanging out in a cocktail lounge with Wilco or something.
The two-man band (out of Champaign) laid out for the crowd the definition of garage folk. Impassioned vocals and drumming, perhaps with a little too much passion (a drumstick was a casualty of their first song and another had to be rushed in), created an engaging, high-impact vibe throughout. The drummer’s knit hat? Stylish and excellent. The overall set? Nicely jarring and twangy (just the right amount of “country music” vibe for the night). Notably, the duo performed “Shoelaces,” which they’re set to record soon.
Coming from the furthest away (the ever-exotic Wisconsin) as part of their current tour, Opus Dog changed things up with a mellower folk sound and a striking combination of male and female lead vocals. They (along with Emily Otnes and the Weekdays) performed incredibly new music as part of this show, so new to them, in fact, their last song didn’t even have a real title yet. It’s important to note: while mellower, they certainly didn’t lack the fire of the other two bands.
Lastly, Emily Otnes took the stage a few Weekdays short, but their sound was still full and fulfilling. The group certainly incited the most dancing with their covers (of Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop” and Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk”). “We Can’t Stop,” chilled out and “jazz-ed out,” worked really well. Otnes’s sweet but potent vocals never lost their charm, and she and the band drove it home with “Don’t Call Me,” her clever current single about a creepy older man.
- Be sure to check out the second part of Pizza's 2-Part Benefit Show later today, if you get the chance!