Augustines w/ The Bots at Turf Club, St. Paul, MN (11 October 2014)
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The best live band currently touring is Augustines, a Brooklyn, now-Seattle based three-piece that wrapped a thirteen-month tour last week at The Turf Club in St. Paul. As someone that has seen probably a thousand concerts, I can speak from experience when saying the band’s live experience more than transcends the typical concert and is an interactive and cathartic experience, unlike any other.
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The Bots
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The evening got off to a great start as well, as guitar/drum brotherly duo The Bots who we just saw a few weeks prior, returned to town to open the evening, in promotion of their finally just out full-length, Pink Palms (FADER Label). After self-releasing a trio of releases and touring relentlessly over the last several years (including appearing at almost every European, U.S., and Japanese festival), young brothers Mikaiah (guitar/vocals) and Anaiah Lei (drums) have refined their garage punk/blues rock mix into a distinctive sound all their own.
The 41 min. set started with the crunchy ‘Won’ from the new album and quickly won over the crowd primarily in attendance for the headliner, then new album opener, ‘Ubiquitous’ followed. Banter was kept to a minimum due to their short set time and where drummer Anaiah Lee hid in the corner last time, the drums were up front and stage left, with Augustines’ gear giving him little room to retreat to.
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Mikaiah spinning
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‘Bad Friends’ was about gang members and ‘Alanna’ was “about a crazy girl I knew”, said guitarist Mikaiah. Many of their songs started with audio clips and vocal samples before ballooning into their own sonic walls of sound and their last song, ‘5:17’ found both brothers on the venue’s floor- Mikaiah spinning and reveling from the feedback of his guitar and Anaiah breakdancing with a cymbal in hand—ahh, the restlessness of youth.
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Augustines
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Augustines (formerly We Are Augustines and rising from previous band, Pela) have always had a growing but very loyal fan base. Though I’ve admittedly come to the party a little late, the handful of previous times I’d seen them, had both blown me away as well as blown away any band that happened to be on the same bill with them, that night. Their music is a no-frills, blue-collar brand of straight-ahead beer-swilling rock, born from a passion that makes them play like their lives depend on it, or if every gig was their last.
Singer/guitarist Billy McCarthy is the heart of the band, with multi-instrumentalist Eric Sanderson the soul, and UK drummer, Rob Allen, the beat. A friend peered down at the setlist taped to the stage and remarked, “That’s just the first half, right?”, and he would turn out to be correct.
“This is a celebration for us”, McCarthy mentioned after the opening number, referring both to the show itself and it being the last date of the current tour. “A song about a church”, ‘Chapel Song’, settled the band somewhat as the band apologized in St. Paul, for a short set the night before in Chicago. McCarthy’s early banter between songs showed the weariness of being on the road for such a long time, but it soon softened, due to the spirited reception from the crowd.
‘City of Brotherly Love’ with its piano-driven melody and heartfelt lyrical delivery was both delicate and impactful, and the song from which the tour is named, ‘Walkabout’ resonated live as it did as seen in recent Downey/Duvall movie The Judge. Even their guitar tech Alex participated, playing for several songs mid-set.
After 70 minutes, the set really elevated into memorable heights, with the band coming back for an acoustic encore, off-mike at stage center, starting with “The Avenue” and a stirring “Tenement Teeth”.
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“Clown Lounge”
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With previous recent gigs, they led the crowd outside to play in the street, but knowing the venue, had everyone instead march downstairs into the tiny cramped basement dubbed the Clown Lounge. With a small piano in place and band literally hanging from the rafters, they proceeded to play almost another hour, off-mike, McCarthy shouting lyrics with the absence of any mic, and with craning necks from the low ceiling.
Songs like the much-requested ‘Weary Eyes’, ‘ East Los Angeles’, ‘New Drink for the Old Drunk’ and closing ‘The Trouble with River Cities (a Pela song)’were indescribably resonate with impassioned delivery, in the most intimate setting possible. The trio hugged at the end of a long night and tour, their sweat-stained shirts clinging to each other and a roaring crowd around them in all directions.
After the next few weeks off, both bands hit the road again- The Bots with a short Texas tour, while Augustines play Europe, including a much-awaited night in Dublin, where McCarthy’s ancestors are from. Those that are in attendance that night no doubt will have the luck of the Irish and be privy to a life-affirming, transformative concert experience.
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Augustines at Turf Club, St. Paul, MN (11 October 2014) |