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Silversun Pickups, School of Seven Bells, Atlas Genius @ State Theater

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Silversun Pickups
School of Seven Bells
Atlas Genius
State Theater, Minneapolis
September 20, 2012

For some reason, the SSPU show last night was running really early. So early that when I arrived at 8 p.m., Atlas Genius had not only already played, they had already loaded their van and were hanging at the merch table. That’s really freaking early, especially when doors opened at 7 p.m.

Here’s Doug with vocalist and guitarist Keith Jeffrey.

I asked a few people how the set was and got good reviews. Most folks only really knew “Trojans,” which I understood they played as their set closer at 7:30. Again, that’s freaking early. Sorry for missing guys, but seriously. Did you have to drive straight to Chicago last night for tonight’s gig or something?

I did manage to catch a few songs from School of Seven Bells, who were fairly low energy. We ended up walking over to Rock Bottom to join up with some friends instead.

The whole time I was super nervous we were going to completely miss SSPU, so eventually walked back over and caught the end of SOSB. Not really my thing. Not much more to say.

Okay, so it was SSPU time, and the audience was on its feet and ready.

As someone who has been following SSPU since August 2005 (this has been well established), I can confidently say this band isn’t the most original act.

They aren’t the trendiest, don’t have a gimmick and haven’t evolved their sound much in the past 7 years I’ve been following them. For the most part, the SSPU formula is to write songs that start with a chill vibe and build.

Brian’s Aubert’s vocals and guitar work operate like a wound coil — a spring that’s pressed down, down, down until it explodes in fury. This is the part where Brian’s signature warlock vocals give way to energetic scream vocals. It sounds cliché when you analyze it, but this is the unapologetic essence of SSPU. And we love them for it. Really. We crank this stuff and scream along. It’s why I love the band.

The SSPU songs that build and build until they climax into sheer emotion are the reason. Except when the songs don’t do that. And those are the boring songs everyone talks through or fidgets with their smart phones while wondering when the band will play “Panic Room.”

That happened a couple times last night.

For example, “Here We Are” pretty much killed all the momentum just five songs into the set. And I’ll say the minimalist stage set-up didn’t help: six pedestal and four projector lights. That’s it. Not much to do other than sit down. So PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAT DOWN.

I’ve mentioned before how much I hate the seats at the State. They are truly concert prohibitive. At the end of the set we finally pushed our way up to the front, and at that moment I finally felt like the band connected with the audience.

And while I’m at it, the security staff are jerks about cell phone photos and videos.

And the balcony people need to stand up.

So yeah, back to SSPU. The band was refreshed, with a rare night off in Minneapolis the night prior (Brian said they hit up Pizza Luce and Built to Spill at First Avenue), and they sounded really great.

Longtime bass player Nikki Monninger was back home in LA “waiting to push out two babies from her stomach.” Newcomer Sarah Negahdari (The Happy Hollows) filled in quite well — nailing the riffs, genuinely enjoying herself on stage and even pulling her weight on the back-up vocals.

Drummer Chris Guanlao is a tribal beat genius and pure joy to watch, despite his signature crash cymbal at standing height which I would hold against him as a gimmick if I didn’t so respect his drumming.

If was in charge of the setlist, I would have scrapped “Catch and Release” (a downer with strings played awkwarded via keyboard) and “Dots and Dashes” (another unfortunate snoozer stuck between “Panic Switch” and “Lazy Eye”) in favor of “Kissing Families” or “Rusted Wheel” or “Substitution. ”

More than half the crowd knew every word of “Lazy Eye” (including me), but it had some bad feedback issues plaguing it. It was at this point that I realized Brian is playing all the guitar parts with some filler help from Joe Lester. He’s really a talented musician and still one of my favorite leads.

The band closed solidly with “Busy Bees” and “Out of Breath,” inviting the floor to swarm the aisles and rush the stage. Standing there in the front row for those last two songs, it finally felt like the SSPU concert I’d been looking for. The audience was back on its feet and engaged. And SSPU — who have opened for Muse in 360 arenas just two years ago — seemed to finally make a connection with the crowd.

We made nice with the security guards and headed out. Although I do love this band, this may be my last SSPU show due chiefly to their new material and some of the stagnant tunes they’re playing live. Or maybe I need to wait a little bit to make that decision.

Some people wait just for a little bit; Why can’t I wait for a little bit?

photo photo14 photo8 silversun pickups state theater 2012 school of seven bells photo7 photo5 photo9-b photo9 photo6 atlas genius doug hamlin photo2 photo4 photo12 photo13

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