As mentioned yesterday, despite a number of other offerings, last night I went to Terminal West to see Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
Opener Alex G is "just a normal, energetic girl who loves music, Carol Burnett, and food." No, wait, that can't be right. Turns out there are two "Alex G's" on the internet, one the aforementioned, self-described pop singer, and the other is young Pennsylvania native Alex Giannascoli, who's "gnarled, wobbly, unfailingly melodic guitar pop evokes Big Star, Elliott Smith, and Built to Spill, as well as more recent low-key breakouts like Youth Lagoon and Jackson Scott" (according to Pitchfork), which is interesting because Jackson Scott opened for Unknown Mortal Orchestra when they played Terminal West during Rocktober 2013.
Live, everything sounded a little more deconstructed and experimental than the polished bedroom recordings Alex has been posting on the internet. I was reminded at times more of the post-emo of bands like Slint and American Football than Big Star or Built To Spill, and not to take away from the latter, but the live similarities to the former are a good thing.
If I have a criticism at all, it's that their set was too short - I was just getting into their sound when the set was over, but that's probably the fault of the show's promoters and tour schedule, and not the band. I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.
One of the benefits of watching Unknown Mortal Orchestra perform over the years is seeing how frontman Ruban Nielson has gained confidence and stage presence since 2011. His moves and mannersims - squatting down low during guitar passages, even sitting on the floor while playing at times, and his almost Motown-style twirls - have always been there, be now seems to relish entertaining an audience with his presence more than ever. Between that and the polished performance of his tight band - now with added keyboards - last night was the best all-around performance of the five UMO shows I've seen.
Nielson used many of the songs as launching pads for his searching guitar solos, and gave the band plenty of room to do their own thing, too - the set included several instrumental passages from the band and even a good old-fashioned drum solo, much to the audience's delight. With the addition of keyboards, Nielson was even free to sing one song without accompanying himself on guitar, and used the opportunity to roam the stage, even climbing up on top of the amplifiers. Meanwhile, bassist Jake Portrait can lay equal claim with The War On Drugs' David Hartley as "best bassist right now in rock music."
UMO played songs from their new album, Multi-Love, as well as songs from their previous two albums, including early hits like Ffunny Ffriends, Thought Balune and How Can U Love Me, to later material like From the Sun. Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark), and So Good At Being In Trouble. For the encore, they played two new songs from Multi-Love, Necessary Evil and Can't Keep Checking My Phone.
A great set of music from a band that right now is at the top of its game. I'm sure all of the other shows performed last night were great, too, but I have no regrets of choosing what I did.
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