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Concert Sat Oct 08 2011
The Naked and the Famous@Cabaret Metro 10/07/11
It wasn't too much of a surprise that five piece New Zealand band The Naked and the Famous sold out the Cabaret Metro last night. Considering their Lollapalooza performance proved boisterous enough for their pop songs to make an impression on the crowd, it seemed only natural that Chicagoans would remember how much fun they had and return to the Kiwi band's next performance. As the eager crowd waited with anticipation for the band to emerge, a single green balloon rolled about the stage, giving a foreshadowing clue for the party that was about to begin.
In fact, the band's performance was quite similar between the two. They packed the setlist with tracks from their debut album from 2010 Passive Me, Aggressive You and most of the time were very energetic last night with some down moments only in the beginning of Bells and in some of the slightly spookier portions (mainly due to lead female singer Alisa Xayalith's vocals) for The Sun. The band had a real win with Frayed, Punching in a Dream, All of This, and Girls Like You. As a slight criticism, it would have been nice to have them play about 15 minutes longer as the headlining band but they certainly kept the crammed wall to wall audience wanting more.
In terms of band dynamics, the playing is solid between the keyboards, bass, guitar, and drums and there are definitely some extra keyboard parts, some played by Xayalith herself. The sound is captivating in the sense that it walks the line betwixt rock and pop in an edgy and building sort of way. The songs are quite solid and they are played with strength, with various fans singing along making them seem even stronger and increasingly anthemic with a power to sway a mass consciousness. However, the reason why those interested in the songs from their debut should see them live has more to do with Xayalith's stage presence than anything else. She dances amidst all of the bursts of back light with her glorious hair cascading about her. She's fun to watch and she enhances the songs because of how animated she is. Certainly, guitarist and singer Thom Powers by her side at the front is also energetic and there is a recognizable chemistry demonstrated between the two but it's Xayalith's visual performance that carries the most weight in the vast majority of the songs.
It's always difficult to tell for these young bands how long their careers will last and what the future might hold for them but watching their sense of vigor for life and for their tracks makes one think and definitely hope that the band will have several more albums to create and release before their time is done. Let's hope they come back to Chicago soon!