Even with several post-Thanksgiving distractions (a Bears’ game, digesting that bottomless Tupperware container of turkey), Chicago got off its lazy ass and turned out Sunday night for DeSoto Record’s stalwarts The Dismemberment Plan at the Metro. With Heinekens blazing, oversized aviators and leather suspenders to die for, the DC four were warmly introduced by one fine Johnny Knoxville look alike. “Chicago … the (pause) vanilla city, straight from the chocolate city … Dismemberment Plan,” canted the drunken merch vendor.
And with that the band–Travis Morrison (vocals/guitar/keys), Jason Caddell (guitar), Eric Axelson (bass/keys) and Joe Easley (drums)–lounged onto stage before Morrison took his appropriate center mark while ripping into “Do the Standing Still” off 1997’s stellar The Dismemberment Plan is Terrified. Morrison takes an intriguing/entertaining approach to live music with the manic key stroking off his trusty stage right Roland while relentlessly beating out guitar soliloquies.
Even before some truly laughable stage banter, the Plan kept the energy high in the Metro’s cozy environ with newbie cuts “Ellen & Ben,” “Time Bomb” and one of rock’s more refreshing, if not first, ode to the X-Men, “Superpowers.”
Released at the end of October, Change does mark a bit of a transition from previous harder releases. One fan shivering outside appeared to be a bit skeptical with how the new material would hold in show. “I have seen the Plan a few times, and they have been pretty boring. Not boring like Death Cab, you expect that with their music. It’s just not exciting sometimes.”
As previously stated, the banter was well worth admission, featuring a story about how a crackhead stole the band’s trombone, as a reason for no longer playing “One Too Many Blows to the Head” (certainly a fitting demise for brass instrument).
Morrison, a well-documented sweetheart in indie-rock circles, comes across as cocksure but reverential to the cooing fans. He even allowed a girl dressed in devil garb to tap along to “The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich,” while fan after fan climbed onstage for an impromptu, bare-chested hopping sessions (bare-chested for the guys at least).
Other notable moments during the 75-minute set included a punched-up version of the straight-rock firecracker “Pay for the Piano,” the seldom-played “The First Anniversary of Your Last Phone Call,” and crowd favorite “The Ice of Boston.”
The 3rd show on a grueling 17 straight days of touring, it would be expected for the band to hold back a bit by abiding to the 10:00 p.m., city-mandated curfew. At 10:20, “OK Jokes Over” finished, featuring a rousing rendition of “Bootylicious.” Show over? Hellz no. The four-song encore began slow with the drum-machine-inspired, crescendoing ditty “You Are Invited” while the crowd launched into a throw-ya-hands-in-the-air tirade during the closing number “Back and Forth”–not an Aaliyah cover.
Due to a flat tire, D.C. experimental two-piece Diastemata arrived literally five minutes before their opening set, so one can’t judge the Liz Phair-meets-Phish car wreck for being a bit scattered. Oh wait.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists offers an easy to swallow pop pill on their recent release The Tyranny of Distance. Yes, Leo brings the energy of his celebrated album to a gig, but he forgets to mash his music into a pill–it’s more of a long, drawn-out meal in some cases, including a 10-minute jam that might have been funny at five. Maybe. And when the crowd had already feasted on roasted meat and tubers the previous days, bloated music just was plain unsavory.
