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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Live Review Last Night: The Clean at Holocene

Posted by Travis Ritter on Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 1:01 PM

The_Clean.jpg

Time has a way with The Clean. Last year, the Dunedin, New Zealand-based band issued Mister Pop on their US label Merge, the first stateside studio release since 2001's Getaway. Last night, the legendary masters of pop played Portland, the final stop of their seven date US tour, for the first time in six years. For all the waiting we've done for the band, the patience finally paid off in spades.

Though I never saw a sign indicating the show sold out, the performance room of Holocene was packed to the gills by the time The Clean hit the stage after eleven, with people shoving their way through to any vacant floorspace. The ramshackle post-punk pop trio, who has been together now for thirty-two years, had no shortage of songs to choose from, pulling out songs they hadn't played in years. "Some of these songs are older than most of you," remarked guitarist/singer David Kilgour. And he wasn't kidding. A majority of 21+ audience looked like they were born in the 1980s, still shitting in diapers at the time The Clean were producing timeless pop singles and albums for New Zealand's storied Flying Nun label.

Under a low blue-ish red light, the band pulled out all the stops, playing requisite crowd favorites from the Anthology compilation, including a slightly more subdued version of the the often-covered "Anything Can Happen," as well as "Fish," "Oddity," and "Billy Two." David Kilgour and his brother/drummer Hamish spend equal time singing, interjecting the song breaks with mumbling jokes/observations that were difficult for me to decipher through their thick New Zealand accents. And though this was the first time The Clean has played the US since releasing Mister Pop, they only worked one song from that great 2009 album into the set: the anthemic "In The Dreamlife U Need a Rubber Soul." Noticeably absent was the band's seminal 1981 single "Tally Ho," that they reportedly played the night before in San Francisco. While the band did play at mellower tempos, they still rocked out, with David Kilgour sometimes crouching low in front of his amp to create heavy walls of psych-pop distortion. At one point, he handed off his guitar to the audience, who picked at the strings, while he made some fractured notes emerge on his small keyboard.

The band closed out their set with a fierce cover of Velvet Underground's "What Goes On" "I Can't Stand It" before returning to the stage for a one song encore, the mellow, gentle number,"Safe In The Rain." For Portland, it couldn't have ended on a sweeter and regionally sensitive note. We are gonna need a song to help us through these wet months ahead.

I missed the opening act, but caught Quasi's set, which was rife with incredibly awkward stage banter from leader Sam Coomes, and some classic Quasi songs I hadn't heard in years ("Featuring Birds" and "It's Raining.") His beat-up organ, a prominent staple of Quasi's sound, ran into some technical problems throughout, and inevitably lead to Coomes pushing it over onto the stage. Additionally, his voice sounded strained and drained at times. Janet Weiss, however, held up her own side of the bargain with strong technical drumming that remained fluid throughout, proving once again that she's one of the best female drummers in the world.

 

Comments (11) RSS

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1
fuck off, she's one of the best drummers in the world. period.
Posted by toughwheels on October 6, 2010 at 1:44 PM · Report
2
are you sure it was "What Goes On?" I'm pretty sure I heard "Can't Stand It"
Posted by CalcuLandsverk on October 6, 2010 at 1:44 PM · Report
3
so how many male drummers are better than the "best female drummer?"
Posted by bp baggins on October 6, 2010 at 1:46 PM · Report
4
@calcul. Thanks, you're totally right. Fixed.
Posted by Travis Ritter on October 6, 2010 at 1:49 PM · Report
5
Seriously, with the sexism..? Janet Weiss is one of the best drummers on the planet, period. Agree or don't agree but don't qualify it with gender.
Posted by Leo in NYC on October 6, 2010 at 2:30 PM · Report
6
"Though I never saw a sign indicating the show sold out"

I got an email from Holocene the day of the show saying it was sold out. It was on their regular calendar email.
Posted by ROM on October 6, 2010 at 3:25 PM · Report
7
i thought quasi stole the show.....technical difficulties???..love the clean,but where were you standing? They seemed bored to death? also best female drummer??? argggh
Posted by francis on October 6, 2010 at 8:40 PM · Report
8
quasi ruled...the clean seemed bored to be playing
Posted by francis on October 6, 2010 at 8:41 PM · Report
9
Seriously, how many male drummers are better than Janet Weiss? And how many calibers down is she from the best drummer? Is the guy from Dream Theater like a level 23 drummer, and Damon Che is a level 20, and the girl from the Donnas is like a 7 and Janet Weiss is a solid 15, you know, better than the majority of male drummers - but there are still like 300 (approx) dudes who have higher levels? And if she's the highest ranked woman, would you strip her of that victory just becasue the correlation to the disparity is a bummer truth? People are different, and can do things in a broad spectrum of effectiveness: occasionally it is affected by gender, or age, or how bodies work. The WNBA will never be the same caliber as the NBA. But they still play some damn fine basketball, to the best of their abilities, I imagine. Let's be real.
Posted by lisa leslie on October 6, 2010 at 10:57 PM · Report
10
Wow, you people butt hurt much? If all you have to be upset about is someone pointing out it's a female drummer you have some real issues. Did you know we have a "black" president? Omg, why don't I just say president? Get a clue and find a real cause to fight for. Bunch a titty babies on here.
Posted by JD Tucker on October 7, 2010 at 1:57 PM · Report
11
The Clean were great. Quasi played amazingly. All around awsome show.
Posted by Dudekp on October 8, 2010 at 9:59 AM · Report

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