| Silversun Pickups at Fillmore Auditorium |
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Contributed By: Greg M. Schwartz
Created On: Tuesday, 23 October 2007 Hits: 110  Silversun Pickups Hailing from Los Angeles’ Silverlake district, the group has been a rising “buzz band” for the past year thanks to the success of their debut album Carnavas, a rocking platter with a distinct Smashing Pumpkins influence. It was somewhat ironic, then, that Billy Corgan brought the Pumpkins out of a seven-year retirement earlier this year, featuring an 11-night residency at the Fillmore in July. As on Carnavas, the high-intensity “Well Thought Out Twinkles” was performed in the second slot, and served notice that this would be a rocking night at the Fillmore. Drummer Christopher Guanlao unleashed a fury of percussion mayhem that did indeed recall the talents of ace Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. There are few drummers in the rock world that can claim the same, so it’s no wonder the band has drawn such comparisons. Time and again throughout the evening, it was Guanlao more than anyone else that kept visions of the Pumpkins in the air. “Rusted Wheel” featured the evening’s first extended psychedelic jam, as keyboardist Joe Lester started pulling atmospheric tricks out of his bag. The song started slow and built steadily, captivating the crowd. The band then brought it back down into a sublime groove that went well beyond the album version before launching back into another big jam. Being able to take a recorded song to a higher level onstage is what makes a great live band, and the Silversun Pickups showed here that they’ve got the skills. “Future Foe Scenarios” built to a crescendo where Aubert screamed his lungs out like a man possessed. The screaming isn’t his strong suit, but the energy seems to be the point. The band then threw the audience an unexpected curveball in the form of an avant garde art rock breakdown, demonstrating a diverse sonic palette and keeping the audience on its toes. On “Little Lover’s So Polite,” Monninger chipped in with some soprano vocals that added a certain beauty to the song before another spacey guitar jam from Aubert. Time and again, the quartet locked in for psychedelically groovy crowd-pleasing jams. At one point, Aubert grinningly declared the entire experience of playing the Fillmore to be something of a mind fuck, but said it’s “a good one, like a long slow one.” Toward the end of the show, Aubert gave props to the local audience, saying that influential San Francisco radio station Live 105 was the first to put the band’s breakthrough single “Lazy Eye” into regular rotation, which in turn catalyzed the song’s national success. “So we’re basically here because of you,” Aubert told the cheering crowd, then launched into a supremely triumphant and epic rendition of “Lazy Eye,” as the Fillmore exploded in rock and roll glee. When Aubert sang “I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life,” it sounded as if the song was written for that very moment. {mos_ri} Share this article to:        |
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