Fluxblog
December 14th, 2009 10:50am

The Opposite Of Anything


The Fiery Furnaces @ Bowery Ballroom 12/12/2009

Rub Alcohol Blues / Charmaine Champagne / Duplexes of the Dead – Automatic Husband – Ex-Guru / Chris Michaels / The End Is Near / Keep Me In The Dark / Up In The North / Staring At The Steeple / Drive To Dallas / Evergreen / Crystal Clear / Cut The Cake / Ray Bouvier / Worry Worry / Wolf Notes // I’m In No Mood – Candy Maker’s Knife In My Handbag / Two Fat Feet / Asthma Attack / Single Again / Chief Inspector Blancheflower (first part) – Japanese Slippers / Even In The Rain / Here Comes The Summer

I wonder if the Fiery Furnaces are going to stick with performing crowd-pleasing rock shows for the foreseeable future, or if they’re just dying to go off on another strange tangent as soon as they get a chance. The simple, straight-forward approach is obviously well-suited to the relatively straightforward material from I’m Going Away, but there are still enough traces of Matthew Friedberger’s perversity in the live arrangements — I’m thinking about the bizarre rhythm and time shifts dropped into “Drive To Dallas” in particular — that the show feels as though it can go wonky at any moment. For the most part, though, this was a lean and tight performance with a loose and groovy vibe, especially as the band breezed through several numbers on the fly during a generously long encore. This was the Fiery Furnaces at their best — dynamic and fun, with an emphasis on the quality of their songs rather than their sui generis style or contrarian impulses. A lot of the oldies were rearranged, but pretty much always in a way that flattered the melody and revealed a side to the song, as with the ballad version of “Single Again” or the quasi-arena rock take on “Here Comes The Summer.”

The Fiery Furnaces “Keep Me In The Dark”

It would be interesting for the Fiery Furnaces to further mine the territory established on “Keep Me In The Dark.” They’ve done some groovy, danceable bits in the past, but it’s never been a focus, especially as Matthew seems like the sort of guy to either lose interest midway or flip your expectations once he’s got you moving. The verses are fine, but the chorus is top-notch, vaguely echoing Motown in both form and substance without veering into pastiche. The lyrics kill me, by the way. The verses are typical high concept Furnaces fare, but when Eleanor sings “please don’t tell me nothing, keep me in the dark with the opposite of anything,” it’s clear that she’s talking about something far more emotionally potent than antiques, receipts, and per diems.

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