Architecture
in Helsinki and Dr. Dog
(with Still Flyin’)
Slim’s, San Francisco, California
October 18, 2005
Showed up at Slim’s a little late with my sister-in-law,
D, out front at 8:15. She knows me well enough to give me a “late
call” when she got off at the wrong BART stop. When it comes
to shows, I’m pretty uptight about time. Our friends JP
and SF came in a little bit later. We drank some Miller High Life
with lemons shoved in the bottle to prepare for what we hoped
would be a great show. That’s some good shit!
Still Flyin’ was the first band. We came in as they were
hitting their ska/reggae/whatever high. They had sixteen people
on stage. Then 19. Then 20. I dream of having a band that can
have a party that big on stage. Mr. Trombone/keyboard/vibraphone
guy seemed to be the musical virtuoso in the band. He was great,
but if you have more than a dozen people in your band, does one
person have to cover three instruments? I do not doubt the band’s
sincerity or commitment to having the best time ever, but the
logistics of having a band that big scare me. Regardless, if you
have enough people on stage, it looks like a party and feels like
a party, and that’s fun.
The next act, Dr. Dog, began behind a screen, playing a live video
of what I thought was Huey Lewis and the News’ “You
Crack Me Up” (other members of my party think it was “Heart
and Soul.”) The Dog’s sunglassed guitar player should
be in the News. He looks like the guy serving drinks on Sports.
He’s smoking on the inside of Fore! Dr. Dog seem to have
a great work ethic. I love that in a band, and it pays off with
these guys. They opened with their best song, “Say Something.”
I had expected one singer, and got two. They sounded very similar
and were able to do some great harmonizing. Between songs, the
bass player dude, who has an awesome side-to-side dance, was saying
something about it raining outside. (Just some light SF mist,
in fact.) JP said, “Yes. You are standing in cloud.”
Dr. Dog hyped the headlining Architecture in Helsinki throughout
their set—it seems like the bands have had a long, good
tour together.
My two favorite Dr. Dog songs are “The World May Never Know”
and “Say Something,” and the live performance nailed
them both. Glorious songs on the record, but live, the energy
just oozed. JP said that when your band is performing, you make
up for studio trickery with live freak-outs. That’s dead-on
Dr. Dog.
Richard Nixon is on the projector screen when Architecture in
Helsinki start. Eight people grinning their asses off on stage.
One of those fuckers was hitting an Autoharp with a mallet! Shakers
everywhere! I really wish that I had been in town for their Hotel
Utah show back in May. I would have been dodging crossover trombones
and dancing hands in that small room.
As much as the Architecture in Helsinki’s energy rocks,
their songs are so schizophrenic that it’s hard to catch
a cohesive groove. Part of this has to do with the sound at Slim’s.
It’s tricky enough to get a four-piece to sound good in
there. Throw in some extra keyboards, a mess of brass, and eight
live microphones, and you have a soundboard nightmare. Their cover
of the Bar-Kays’ “Soulfinger” helped bring things
together and lent a cohesive groove to a spotty set. I’m
not sure if Australia even has high school marching bands, but
some of these folks were definitely in one.
Their material from the first album, Fingers Crossed, seems to
work much better live than the songs from In Case We Die, which
had some vigorous studio mastery going on. In Case We Die’s
songs are so tight and crisp on that album, but they don’t
quite hold up live. Regardless, Architecture in Helsinki are a
total party. They had a tuba, for fuck’s sake! Any band
that tours with a tuba gets a free pass in my book.
In an encore I was expecting to ditch out on, Architecture in
Helsinki pulled an amazing song out of their collective asses:
the 35-person take on Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”
was truly spectacular. JP said, “This is like the end of
SNL.” The singer from Still Flyin’ announced that
this was the culmination of all their cover battles that ensued
on a previous tour with Architecture in Helsinki, and this was
quite a glorious one to end on. It all fell apart at the end,
but with that many people on stage, I’m not complaining.
By Nate Daly
www.architectureinhelsinki.com
www.homepage.mac.com/sonofsheepdog/
11/2005
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