Suffering and the Hideous Thieves Seldom The Magic Magicians Minus the Bear

Tonight’s festivities kicked off with the grandiose sound and stage presence of Suffering and the Hideous Thieves. It’s not often that you get to see an eight-piece band perform (as an opening act, no less); it’s even less often that you get to see an eight piece band that knows what the hell they’re doing. The basic formula for a Suffering and the Hideous Thieves song is as follows: singer Jeff Suffering hollers, cries and caterwauls through a violent storm of emotions, as the Hideous Thieves (comprised of cello, violin, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, bass and drums) stir up a raging cauldron of sound behind his tales of woe and...well, suffering. You might not expect a band of eight people to be able to play a song and not constantly step on each other's toes (literally and figuratively), but the Hideous Thieves understand both restraint and spectacle, and the result is a swirling orchestra of sound in which every instrument is given proper space, -- and, when it all comes together, contributes to a rather enormous, overwhelming sounding whole. While Suffering’s displays of angst and emotion might come across as rather unsettling and over the top, and his lyrics sometimes lack the sophistication to effectively get his message across without resorting to rather obvious and trite imagery, taken as a whole, a performance by Suffering and the Hideous Thieves is an impressive thing indeed.

Next on the bill was Seldom, a band that has gained some national exposure by being taken on tour by indie darlings Pedro the Lion. Head Lion Dave Bazan is evidently a big fan of the band ­- so much so, in fact, that he saw fit to join up, and now plays bass with the group. Seldom purveys a very likeable brand of downcast, melancholy piano-led pop. Singer Yuuki Matthews has a deep, resonant voice, which sounds a little like a younger version of the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt. Anchored by some fantastic drumming and more-than-capable bass playing from Bazan, Seldom might not blow you away with instrumental pyrotechnics, but they are eminently capable of making a lasting impression. Also to their credit, they don’t really sound like any other band out there that I can put my finger on ­- they employ sinewy, catchy melody lines (usually played by Matthews on Rhodes, and sometimes on guitar), and Matthews’ haunting, yearning voice to great effect. All in all, a very powerful performance from a band that will only get better.

Up next were the Magic Magicians, a side-project band for Jon Atkins of 764-HERO and Joe Plummer of The Black Heart Procession. This band has always puzzled me a bit. I’ve always thought of side-projects as an opportunity for a member of a band to exercise musical chops that he or she doesn’t normally get to use in the "full time" project. In this case, Atkins and Plummer both do exactly what they do in their other bands: sing/holler/play guitar and play drums, respectively. So the question is, what prevents the Magic Magicians from being a low rent 764-HERO (who, incidentally, also started out as a duo before adding a bass player several years into their existence)? The answer is...well, nothing. The Magicians’ songs are, in general, slightly more upbeat than the HERO's, and, I believe, aspire to being simpler, more easily digestible pop nuggets. Live, the duo was in full-on rock out mode, with Atkins positively screaming the words to songs that, on record, he was content to merely sing pleasantly. Although his energy was appreciated, Atkins’ lack of restraint in this respect also managed to blunt the impact of his screams when the music called for them. When you’re screaming all the time, it tends to be a bit less exciting than when you only scream some of the time.

This leaves us with supergroup-on-the-rise Minus the Bear’s set, which was thoroughly excellent. Although I have waxed rhapsodic over the Bear in these pages before, I will continue to do so at every opportunity, 'cause these boys just rock! Take math-rock precision and meld it to solid pop hooks, and you’ve got the Minus the Bear formula in a nutshell. Not so poppy as to piss off the math-rock apprentices, nor too brainy to confound the masses at large, Minus the Bear take the perfect pinch of both styles and create memorable, monolithic tunes that you’ll find yourself humming at the oddest times. Live, the five-piece is damn near unstoppable. Erin Tate and Cory Murchy lay down a bulletproof train of rhythm over which Dave Knudsen sets his trademarked angular fingertapped leads, and Snider’s vocals and Matt Bayles’ electronics fit into the equation like maple syrup into the craters of a Belgian waffle. In a word, delicious.

Not to belabor the point, but tonight’s show was a rarity. Four local bands, all really good at what they do, none of them sounding even slightly like the other, all playing their hearts out. 'Tis a beautiful thing indeed.

Article and photos by Jeremy Schneyer