Post by Jennifer Lopez on Mar 14, 2004 16:45:48 GMT -5
Jamie Stewart, accompanied by Caralee McElroy (the band’s only other full-time member), took to the humble Chicago stage after three opening bands, who seemed to be of interest primarily to their friends in the audience. Jamie wore Vans, blue Levi’s, red boxers, and a grey t-shirt for Sonic Boom Records in Washington; his hair styled exactly as on the cover of Fabulous Muscles; he played a black Fender guitar. Caralee wore a striped shirt and black jeans, and was responsible for harmonium, and the odd gamelan-like percussion. They came on stage very purposefully, not looking at the audience as they set up their two harmoniums, several amps, and sundry electronic gadgets. At this point I attempted a little impromptu applause that did not catch on with the bowling alley at large. There was some talk back and forth between Jamie and a disembodied woman’s voice (a Fireside Bowl employee) regarding placement of microphones. One microphone was positioned over each harmonium. When checking the sound on his own mic, he said “salam, shalom” over and over, inducing sporadic giggles throughout the crowd. The tone was set with the despairing cacophony of I Broke Up, making it immediately clear that Jamie Stewart’s voice actually is gorgeous. Nearly all songs played were from Knife Play (Xiu Xiu’s debut album) and the recently released Fabulous Muscles, although there were exceptions. In fact the evening’s emotional highlight came in the form of Rose of Sharon, released as a split 7” from Oedipus Records. For this song, Jamie put aside his guitar, and he and his partner each hunched over a harmonium, as Jamie sang the poignant lyrics, “You try so hard to be as sweet as you can for me, but I don’t see you for who you are”. The singer was nearly brought to tears by his own chorus. In a tender (if offhand) moment, Caralee gently rubbed Jamie’s back as he turned from the instrument for a drink of water. Perhaps not surprisingly, the audience seemed most responsive to I Luv The Valley OH!, the most straightforward rock track in the band’s canon. Even at that, Jamie did not disappoint, singing about a “buzz” in his “backside”, and shrieking out the titular “OH!”. The intended closer was Helsabot, not strictly a Xiu Xiu song, but a carry over from previous band Ten in the Swear Jar, since re-recorded for the Fag Patrol EP. Tonight however, vocal duties went to Caralee McEllroy. Stepping out from behind her barricade of instruments, she stood before the microphone, hands in the pockets of her jeans, eyes closed, and sang those goofy, violent, sexy lyrics like the most vulnerable chanteuse imaginable. She owned them. After a brief spate of applause, the band played two more songs: Suha (a favorite of mine) and Fabulous Muscles.
