Out the Other: Cold War Kids @ Mercy Lounge

I really can't believe it has only been about nine months since I first saw Cold War Kids at the Basement and was blown away by the band - the blog insanity and crazy backlash that ensued last year makes it feel like a lot longer. It also seems like a long time ago because I managed to catch the band four times last year - with Tapes 'n Tapes last June at the Basement, then at Exit/In a month later with Sound Team, and twice in October at both a Grimey's in-store and a headlining appearance at Exit/In. And each appearance was a painful reminder that most people in Nashville are oblivious to the little indie rock blogging bubble that is my whole world - attendance at shows definitely didn't reflect the fact that it seemed like every boy with messy hair and a blogspot address was buzzing about the band on the internet. It's easy to forget that more than ninety-five percent of this town has no idea what Pitchfork is, and that's why it was pretty damn exciting to see a sold-out Mercy Lounge last night, a mere five months (to the day, even!) since Cold War Kids last came to town.

Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club were the two opening bands on the bill, neither of which I've seen before (Tokyo Police Club were actually everywhere at SXSW, but I kept skipping them because I knew I'd catch the band back in Nashville). Both bands were a lot of fun and I would definitely like to see them again - but for very different reasons. Delta Spirit sounded great, seemed to be having a great time, and since I'm not familiar with any of their material, I'm definitely planning on picking up a CD and hearing how it compares to the show. I'm a bit more familiar with Tokyo Police Club because I have their EP - but while they also sounded pretty good and seemed to be having fun, I'm pretty sure the performance we got sounds NOTHING like the band's usual live show. Apparently their drummer was incredibly sick, so the band kicked off their set with a few incredibly scaled-back songs without him, apologizing for the fact that only 75% of the band was on stage. Then they invited quite a few members of Delta Spirit and Cold War Kids onto the stage (all of both bands maybe, I think there were 11 or 12 people on stage), and initiated the craziest indie rock drum circle I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, it was actually pretty cool, but it seemed a little insane to me that the solution to a missing drummer was to add eight percussionists to the show. I think one of the Cold War Kids guys played guitar a little, but for the most part it was this insane, drummy collaboration that bordered on sounding marching band-ish at certain points. I did recognize some songs off the EP, but now I'm even more curious about what Tokyo Police Club really sounds like live. Great effort though - I love a band that will go above and beyond to still put on a good show.

Cold War Kids were up next, and like I said, I was pretty much amazed by the number of people there at that point - Mercy Lounge was packed. And like the last four times I saw the band they just killed, but this time they finally had the audience they deserved - a shoulder to shoulder sold-out crowd, dripping with sweat in a room that was obviously unprepared for the 85 degree day, singing along with a degree of passion I wasn't really prepared for. I'm not sure if the grin on my face for the duration of their set was there because in those five months I forgot a little bit how much the band rocks, or just because the excitement in the room was contagious. I was just as happy and sticky and singing along as everyone else around me though.

I think the highlight of the show was "Saint John" - before the song started they called they boys from Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club on stage and pretty much re-created the percussion ensemble that was on stage about an hour earlier. And I think it worked a little better in the context of a Cold War Kids song - at least it sounded more like you would expect it to - a bit of a mess of percussion with everyone (once again 12 or so) bobbing their heads and singing and having a fantastic time. Rich over at Cable and Tweed recorded the show from the night before in Atlanta, and it looks like they did the same thing (actually it looks like it might be the same setlist), so I'll have to check out his recording. But here's the version from Up In Rags too:

Cold War Kids - "Saint John"