The Liars show was not at all like I had anticipated. They were less polished; they were more post-punk; and the show was not sold-out. I was however, right about one thing: they were really great live.
I missed Burnt Ones because I was waiting for my boyfriend to get off work, but made it in time to catch John Wiese. I believe the old adage goes something like, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." This is not usually in reference to music, but I believe it can be applied to it anyway. Quite frankly, I just didn't understand the appeal of John Wiese. It made me wonder what the definition of music is at all.
He sat on a chair the entire time and kept his eyes glued to his computer. It was abrasive and it made me cringe inside. However, another person in the crowd said that they thought he was pretty good and I'm sure other people enjoyed him as well.
Liars came on shortly after and the lead singer, Angus was just as crazy looking as in the band's promo pictures. His hair hung in his face and at times his mouth was so close to the microphone that I thought he was going to swallow it. Occasionally, he gave the crowd a smile and the wall of insanity he had built was broken down.
I'm not sure if it was just the sound at Rhino's, but they sounded a lot less polished live. I was surprised, but kind of happy about this. They were more raw (in a good way) and it's always boring to see a band live when they sound exactly the same as on album. They played a Bauhaus cover, although they didn't say which and I'm really bad at remembering titles of songs. Either way, cheers to them for covering Bauhaus because they are a great band.
"Scissor" was definitely one of my favorite songs of the night. On the album it is simultaneously jarring and epic. This was exactly how it came across live. One minute they would slowly and creepily be playing part of the song, and the next they would be thrashing on their instruments. After knowing that their latest album, Sisterworld is about paranoia in L.A, "Scissor", which is the opening track, makes more sense. The whole band seemed to envelope this feeling of fear that was such a big theme of their album. Being able to translate that to a live audience truly takes talent and I would definitely recommend seeing them if you missed this show.
-Katie
