“God, I love these guys so much!”
The nice girl standing to my left at the front of the stage at the Dandy Warhols' Showbox at the Market gig last night said this to me, and I told her that I loved them too.
“Do you want to see the picture I got of me and Zia?”
I do, I said to the nice girl standing to my right, and she then produced a small camera with a slightly-blurry photo of her grinning with Dandy Zia McCabe at the bar moments before.
Later on, Zia McCabe stood next to me and rocked out to openers and fellow Portlanders Blue Giant, and she looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back at Zia.
Even later on during the Dandies’ set, two young ladies were so overcome with Dandy Love that they jumped onstage. There seems to be a curiously-similar behavior to all stage-jumper-on-ers: they don’t actually know what to do once they’ve hoisted themselves up there before security hauls them offstage. The first young lady decided after a moment’s hesitation to shake the hands of all the band members: Peter Holmstrom, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Brent De Boer, and Zia McCabe. The second young lady, a rail thin blonde in a tiny red minidress wobbling precariously on very high chunky heels, could not think of a further way to express her deep feelings for the band and stood stock still, until assisted to another part of the venue by two Showbox employees.
A very tall man stood behind me and yelled for the song “Solid.” When the Dandies played it, he screamed “SOLID!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!” and pointed to the band over my head. I am short.
At the very end of the show during the holiday encore of “The Little Drummer Boy,” two more very excited girls pushed up next to me and went completely batshit crazy, pounding the stage and professing their total rapture.
People love the Dandy Warhols.
Why I love the Dandy Warhols is a no-brainer to figure: they combine all my favorite rock genres into songs I never tire of. This is actually a rather brave thing for any band to do, because when you choose to offer up music as varied as classic melodic three-chord pop, dreamy ten-minute-long shoegaze/stoner drones, noisy electronica, and straightforward hill-style country, not every fan is going to hang with you there. For me, it’s perfect. I like hearing all the influences in the Dandies' music and then how they shape those into their instantly-recognizable style. A Dandy Warhols live show for me is like what I would imagine it would feel like to be a surfer catching a slow, long, perfect wave to shore: sweet, satisfying, right.
Last night was extra-special for me because I got to bring THE BIG CAMERA. As you probably know if you have attended a concert in the last 25 years or so, you can’t just walk into venues anymore with a SLR/DSLR and detachable lenses. You must obtain permission. I’ve shot with my leetle camera (my beloved Canon G7) for a couple of years now, with results varying from total loss to damn good. But I have figured out that I have really missed using the big stuff, from the days when I would furiously be changing out film rolls every few minutes. Film! Remember that shit! Anyway, so I asked if I could get a photo pass for this show, and most graciously and kindly, the Dandies’ management said yes, and the Showbox staff were all very accommodating and polite as well.
Blue Giant was cool; strongly country/folk, in that particular Northwestern way I am hearing more and more of: very roots, with a rock edge, and lots of beards. The audience loved them, and they seemed to be having a great time, too. Do check them out.
The Dandies played a solid set (that was for the “Solid” guy), touring behind their new compilation album, The Capitol Years: 1995-2007, which contains pretty much their “greatest hits” like “We Used To Be Friends,” “Bohemian Like You,” “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth,” and a previously-unreleased tune, “This Is The Tide.” The only things I didn’t like about the show were that I couldn’t photograph allllllllllllllll night, and that the show had to end. Good job, Dandies.
(More photos are here.)
Where do the Dandy Warhols go from here? Well, a few more live dates, and then back to Portland to figure out a new album. My guess is that it will end up to be their most eclectic mix yet, and I can’t wait to hear it.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman