st. louis: company of thieves

so this one time, many ages ago, i saw company of thieves at the firebird with stamps and sleeper agent. it was about a month ago amidst summer welcome chaos which is probably why i have little memory of it. working mizzou's summer welcome program is sweet but man is it exhausting. i can only assume it was a weekday show that i drove to st. louis and back for because i went alone. not to say it wasn't great though! because it was. i got there a little late and unfortunately missed the opening band stamps whom i was excited to see. some chicago friends of mine (phil kosch, duh) had really been talking them up plus there's a ginger in the band. need i say more? but i guess i either read the venue website wrong or they did a switcharoo. because i got there fashionably late with the intention of missing sleeper agent, but alas. it's not how it worked out. sleeper agent was alright, but my vision was probably skewed by the disappointment.

 company of thieves put on an absolutely fantastic show as always though, and i was pleasantly surprised by how full the venue was. not to say they don't deserve it - they deserve to sell out the pageant - but it was nice to see that they'd gained a solid following in st. louis. it's about time! i ended up bumping into my friend nathaniel who, funny enough, i had met almost exactly a year before at a company of thieves show. so we hung out and watched the set together. and i don't know what else i can say about the band that i haven't said a million times before... they're jaw-dropping.

setlist:
look both ways
queen of hearts
modern waste
old letters
pressure
the fire song
nothing's in the flowers
king of dreams
in passing
death of communication
gorgeous/grotesque


(encore) oscar wilde
(encore) won't go quietly

i skipped out right after the set because of the two hour drive back to columbia coupled with a 6am wake-up time. but it was worth. company of thieves shows are always worth it.

www.companyofthieves.net

album review: company of thieves - running from a gamble

"Company of Thieves are one of the best acts to come out of Chicago in the past couple of years and after their initial release of Ordinary Riches, I was hooked. "Indie rock band" is a popular tag these days, but add "female vocalist" and you've got something new and exciting. And Genevieve Schatz certainly does not disappoint. She may look like a fragile, pretty thing with her bouncy curls and always creative outfits, but once she belts out a couple notes I guarantee your jaw will be on the floor. She means business. Read more...

st. louis: company of thieves and the whigs

wednesday shows are brutal, especially when they're two hours away from school in st. louis! but that's never stopped this traveling one-girl circus. and when company of thieves is in the picture? well, duh. of course i'll be there. work at eight am in columbia? psh.

abby decided last minute to tag along so that was a welcome surprise; i'm quite used to going to shows alone and it rarely bothers me anymore (i want to see the show, not hang out with friends) but it's always nice to have an extra person with you. we grabbed some dinner and left columbia around six, putting us at off broadway at around a quarter of eight. i guess the show got a late start, because while the website said show time was 7:30, opening band ravenhill didn't go on until 8. but it was a welcome wait, because the band was surprisingly good. a mixture of am taxi and ha ha tonka comes to mind, and if you know me at all, you know that's an excellent combination. they were pretty rock'n'roll, but had some great harmonies going with a little gospel on the side. good stuff. and i'm pretty sure i went to high school with the guitarist.... maybe... i think... i was too chicken to say something, but hey. whatever.

up next was company of thieves who always put on a flawless show. marc was looking quite dapper with his little hat, and gen is always adorable. that girl could wear a trash bag and look good. and her hair! ohh, her hair. she probably hates it, but i'd kill for a wild mop of curls like that. anyway, enough about unnecessary aesthetics. THE MUSIC was fantastic. i know their music well enough to keep mental notes of songs, and it was great already having the new album (review up on popwreckoning coming this week, written by yours truly!) they started with a brand new one 'look both ways,' then carried on with 'in passing' and 'old letters,' then played two somewhat familiar new songs ('queen of hearts' and 'nothing's in the flowers'). i remember first hearing 'queen of hearts' at lollapalooza this past summer, and the band has had free download cards floating around for 'nothing's in the flowers' for several months now. next was 'fire song,' 'modern waste' (new), 'death of communication' (new), 'gorgeous/grotesque' (new, which they've played live a couple times before) and finally the crowd favorite 'oscar wilde.' gen gave a great little anecdote about their next single 'death of communication' too, saying "it's about when you're being honest and someone holds it against you; it's about not changing even when you're alone, and sticking with your gut." and she meant every word of it; gen sings and dances on stage with a fiery passion that is unlike anything i've every seen in a front(wo)man. she feels it, and the audience can feel it to. you can't help but stand there with a silly grin on your face and sing along with reckless abandon.

i should probably intoduce myself to them formally at some point. i've seen them quite a few times, and we know so many of the same people. i even got a tweet from them this morning saying that i should have said hello. i get so flustered though! "hi i'm devon and you don't really know me but we know all the same people and i'm in love with your music and you know am taxi and my best friends we the living and all of my chicago people and..." yeah. whoops.

 and finally there was the whigs. i was late to this bandwagon and i'm sincerely regretting it now. they have three albums out to date, the first released in 2005. i first heard their name is association with kings of leon, and then my friend nora of thefivethreesix really turned me on to them. this was my first time seeing them live and it was definitely a great show. i've listened the their newest album a couple times through, but i won't pretend i know it very well. that'll change soon though. i'm sure it will be on heavy rotation in the next couple of weeks along with the other albums i'm missing that will soon be acquired. they're a fierce trio of gritty rock and i highly suggest you check them out. they're a pleasure to watch as well; lead singer/guitarist has some sweet dance moves.

pre-order company of thieves' new album 'running from a gamble' (out may 17th) here! and be sure to give the whigs a listen.

*company of thieves will be back in st. louis june 22 at the firebird. get tickets here!

columbia: company of thieves and the hold steady

okay, so here's the story:

i am obsessed with company of thieves.
and i'm not so much of a hold steady fan.
BUT i'm a harry potter fan.

what does this mean, you ask?

well company of thieves opened for the hold steady. and harry potter was coming out at midnight. therefore, i arrived in time to watch company of thieves play, stood there and drooled for a minute when genevieve walked past me, and left. then got in line for the midnight showing of harry potter.

YUP.

st. louis: company of thieves

ahh, company of thieves. one of my favorite bands from chicago.

i drove to st. louis.
watched the opening bands, nothing too spectacular.
ran into tiffany, and met her friend nathaniel
nathaniel and i promptly bond, become BFFs, and realize we've been at about 20572927 of the same shows.
he informs me manchester orchestra is playing a private show at the blue note the following weekend.
(i pee pants.)
then informs me it's 21+.
(i pee pants again.)
then company of thieves played, and it was amazing.
i bought a sweet ass poster, received a free download card for a new song, and booked it back to columbia.
fuck yeah.



www.companyofthieves.net

st. louis: am taxi, civil twilight, and company of thieves

take another look at that title and let it sink in for a minute. the combination of those three bands last night was one of the most amazing things i've ever had the privilege of witnessing. and it was at cicero's no less. cicero's which has a capacity of under two hundred. those three AMAZING bands, all of them signed, playing at cicero's. i feel like this was one of those shows that, in two or three years, i'll have the rights to brag about. i saw AM TAXI at cicero's. i saw CIVIL TWILIGHT at cicero's. i saw COMPANY OF THIEVES of cicero's. you might be thinking to yourself, "those bands don't seem like they'd go together very well." and you're right. sort of. stylistically, they don't really match up. but company of thieves and civil twilight have wind up records as their factor in common; am taxi and company of thieves have the wonderful city of chicago in common. i'm not exactly sure who invited who onto who's tour... but it somehow worked out beautifully. *sniff*

am taxi played first to an already packed venue. never in my life have i had to fight to keep my spot at cicero's, but this night was one for the history books. fortunately, i was lucky enough to be right up front and had a great view of the stage. i'm not as keen on my punk-rock influences as i am my indie-rock influences, but am taxi reminds me a little bit of rise against. and they did a mean cover of paint it black by the rolling stones if that sheds any light. i was never a big classic rocker, but you can't NOT bob your head to these tunes. and adam krier's voice - as my chicago folk like to call it - sounds like gravel and honey. delicious. i bought both their ep's after the show - for five bucks a piece, it was a steal.

next up was civil twilight. quite a striking difference in style compared to am taxi, but mind-blowing nonetheless. i've had these guys on heavy rotation for a few months now, and with each listen, the album develops itself more and more and hearing them play the songs live was a totally insane experience. i wish i could put into words the feeling of their set. they're a mere trio, but the wall of sound they produce is astounding. they weren't just playing music up there, they were creating a soundscape. it was what i'd expect a sigur ros show to feel and sound like, but with english words. it was ethereal almost. their lyrics are great, but they're nothing too complex. lots of repetitive words and sounds, and it works so well for them. steven, the lead singer [who also plays bass and keyboard] has this perfect falsetto and it almost doesn't seem real. the amount of power and sound that comes out of his body just doesn't match up with how calm and composed he is while on stage. he barelyeven opens his mouth and this absolutely perfect pitch comes flying out at you. that entire explanation probably makes me sound like i was on an acid trip, but it's the best i can do. just go see them live and you'll see what i mean. i had a brief chance after the show to make a fool out of myself and talk to them; they probably thought i was nuts. i blabbered on and on about how great they were and the word vomit just wouldn't stop. but just hearing him respond in that sexy south african accent was enough to keep me blabbering.

and finally. the band that brough the house down. company of thieves. words cannot describe the love affair i've had with this band for the past year or so. it's been intense. and since this was my first time seeing them live in an actual venue [wicker park fest was great don't get me wrong, but it's not exactly intimate.] i was beside myself with fan-girl giddiness. they opened with a new song, and actually played three or four other new ones throughout their hour and fifteen minute set. i was surprised to hear so much new material sounding so good already. but i guess i shouldn't expect anything less from miss genevieve schatz who has the voice of an angel. that girl can SING. she's probably five feet tall and a hundred pounds, but the voice that comes out of her is just insane. and she's the cutest thing, too. she's got these crazy little dance moves that she does and it's all very theatrical. ten bucks says she used to be a dancer [it's the hands, you can always tell a dancer by their hands] or at least involved in high school theater. [is it creepy that i'm making these wild assumptions about her? maybe.] she was just too much precious to handle and i wanted to squeeze her and force her to be my best friend. there was a point at the end of 'pressure' when the entire crowd was belting out the lyrics and when the song was over she exclaimed, "how do you guys know this song?!" she clearly has no idea how good her band is. if she thinks a city just five hours south of chicago wouldn't have her entire record memorized by now, well... i don't even know. but it was great. just great. post show was a little chaotic; it wasn't over until twelve thirty and i still had a two hour drive back to school ahead of me. so i made a bee-line for merch and bought those two am taxi ep's, talked to adam and then some of the guys from civil twilight, and headed out. was i disappointed that i didn't get to talk to anyone from company of thieves? yes. but did i value my sanity and precious four hours of sleep that i was doomed to? very much so. every bit of lost sleep was worth it though. that show was a fantastic start to my week of insanity.

tomorrow - lawrence, kansas for copeland's farewell tour
friday - kansas city for manchester orchestra
saturday - a ridiculous seven hour drive to chicago for we the living
monday - st. louis circa survive and good old war

i love my life.

chicago: wicker park fest

once again, tales of my running away to chicago. and once again, a super last minute decision. they make life more fun, i've decided. and it's probably good therapy for my problems with change and weird obsessive compulsive and perfectionist problems. so i packed up the car and left saturday morning, headed north by around nine. made excellent time and got to sam's house by around two, who was so kind as to let me and michele stay with her for the weekend. we took the train [my first experience with public transportation!] to wicker park and oh man. milwaukee avenue. swarming with hipsters and scenesters and everything in between.

michele, sam, her little sister caitlin and i walked around for a little while exploring and decided on the kid's zone to occupy caitlin for a while. we then headed over to the south stage to see cavashawn. jesse unfortunately had his bag stolen which has his ipod, blackberry, and a bunch of clothes in it. so cavashawn didn't match today - jesse stuck out in red. but it was a nice change; also interesting was scott's vast amount of chest hair peeking out everywhere. we finally met up with stephanie and nikki and a whole slew of other people that i only sort of know based off of faceboook pictures. well cavashawn put on a great show as always. they had a few sound problems with the mic cutting out, but overall it went well and we all noticed quite a few new fans venturing over to the merch table. it was probably around six at that time and we still had a few hours to kill before treaty of paris played. so we hung out for a while and hipster-watched, got huge lemonades and took a trip to the disgusting bathrooms.

treaty played at around eight thirty and they had quite the crowd. granted it's their hometown and a huge outdoor festival, but it seemed like most people knew the music and were singing along. this was my first time seeing them and it was just as wonderful as everyone has described. i'd met phil at beat kitchen back in january, and chris a few show's back at mojoe's, and finally got to meet mike and dan who were super nice. didn't get a chance to say hey to fonzi, but they'll be in columbia soon; no worries there. chaos of course ensued after the set because every single fan girl was trying to get a word in with treaty, and our group was still standing up front talking with the cavie boys. [please give me a few seconds here, to express my deep love and adoration for scott salmon. what a sweetheart; even more so when he's drunk. ladies and gentlemen, this man knows how to hug so if you ever need one, go find him.] we soon left and made our way back to the el station. A MESS is the only way i can describe it. we'll skip the harrowing details. let's just say that we made it back to jefferson park and went to big top restaurant for dinner. perfect end to a fantastic day.

day two - sam made us some fantastic breakfast, we watched fern gully like fools, and decided we needed to take an adventure. so what did we do? we took filipino food [sam's mom's orders] to the cavashawn apartment. we hung out and gossiped for a while and chelsea made various hysterical comments [all in good fun of course] and we were on our way to a very late lunch by around four. noodles and company the the rescue! michele had to be on her way home since she lives a grown-up life, so we headed home and sent her on our way. sam and i then decided to drive back down the wicker park fest instead of taking the train... BAD IDEA. it took us about forty minutes to find parking and by the time we walked our sorry asses all the way to the gate, then all the way to the opposite end of the festival, company of thieves was already playing and we had both missed our favorite song, oscar wilde. but oh well. we met up with nikki and steph again and enjoyed the rest of the set. next up was margot and the nuclear so and so's, who put on a very good set. they're on those bands that would be a favorite if only i had the time to give them. but regardless i really enjoyed it. we then ventured to seven eleven for massive dr. pepper slurpees, and made our way back to sam's house where we burned cavashawn fliers for our bonfire [once again, all in good fun]. i had made a curfew for myself of midnight; leaving then would get me home by a solid five am. well i didn't end up leaving until two... and got home at a disgusting seven am and crashed hard. fantastic weekend with fanstastic people. i'm sad i won't be seeing cavashawn or chicago for a while. and i mean it this time... no more running away before i move back to columbia. [except for kansas city on saturday, but that's been planned for a while].