M83 / Active Child at Kings 10/29/11

M83
with Active Child
Kings
10/29/11

The only show I've anticipated more than this one all year was the "secret" Archers of Loaf show way back in January.  When they announced M83 was going to be playing Moogfest up in Asheville, I would have definitely gone whatever day they played despite not giving a shit about much of the other music and the tickets being damn expensive.  Then when they announced a stop at Kings, that not only I'd get to see them in town but in a very small venue...well, musical nirvana washed over me. 

Active Child opened the show.  I'd seen them play for free a few months ago at Deja Mi Fest in front of the Lincoln Theatre, and was really neither here nor there on them - some interesting moments but overall not really my style of music.  I felt only slightly better about them this go around.  It certainly helped that the sound in Kings was much better than that outdoor show, as this group has a certain subtlety to their music.  I think the big draw of the group is part of what keeps me away - Pat Grossi's voice.  While undeniably remarkable, his operatic style of singing doesn't exactly ruffle my feathers.  I did like the music for the most part though...maybe not the harp so much, which makes them sound like Antony & the Johnsons crossed with Joanna Newsom.  But the rest of the time, probably two-thirds of the set, had a nice Hot Chip feel to it.  Certainly, they were a fitting opener for M83, and the crowd seemed to dig it, or at least dig it as much as they could given how amped up everyone was for the headliner. 

M83 brought an arena rock show to a 250 person venue, complete with extravagant light show and sizable crew of surly roadies who yelled at me because there were some empty beer cans on the edge of the stage.  Beer cans that weren't mine, for the record, not that that kept them from being assholes.  But none of that mattered once the intro started, which led into the first single "Midnight City" from their new album "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" and it was on from there.  Anthony Gonzalez might be a (mostly) one man operation in the studio, but live he leads a four piece band...a band with more pedals than a Guitar Center, multiple keyboard stations, and even an awesome modular synthesizer.  Oh an lasers.  And light boards.  And a smoke machine.  They played a nice, long set, made up mostly of the new record but with just enough older tracks (Teen Angst, Kim & Jessie, Guitar & a Heart, etc) thrown in to keep us longtime fans happy.  Of course I was beyond happy from the first note from all the way to the last note.  Easily one of the best shows of the year...I'll be talking about this one for a while.