Aqueduct, The Foundry Field Recordings and Light Pollution 2/27/09 @ Schubas Tavern
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Opening the evening of music was the very engaging four piece Light Pollution from DeKalb. I'd seen Light Pollution two years ago and, though they sounded familiar, there have been some changes. Gone was the use of the accordion but the violin remained and again added something to the melodies. If you listen to their Myspace page, you'll perhaps realize that the lead singer's voice resembles David Byrne's in it's lullabyish glory, especially on tracks like "Hand Crushes the Wheel." Live, they are a little more edgy and raw than this, providing a fantastic opening sense to the night of music.
The band I was actually most excited to see was The Foundry Field Recordings, a band out of Missouri who have had some lineup changes but played as a four piece, mainly Billy Schuh on vocals and guitar and the cast of Bald Eagle who seem to be a recent live replacement. There's something dreamy and sad in a more complex way about them that channel all of the good elements of bands like Grandaddy and Earlimart. Though Schuh played a few previously recorded tracks, many of the songs that comprised the setlist were those that will be on an album that has not yet been released. These new tracks also showed Schuh's continued growth as a songwriter and definitely whetted the audience's appetite to hear more from the upcoming album. Schuh himself seemed rather modest and sweet while addressing the audience with appreciation and his boyish smile. Though his stage presence was more subtle than that of many lead singers, there was a definite charm to it that one might find altogether endearing.
Headlining the night was electo-indie pop band Aqueduct, who came off as having the same sort of keyboard electronic setup as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone with a similar heft and main force driving the songwriting and shows. The main difference between the two lies within the tone of the songwriting. Casiotone's Owen Ashworth is much more melancholic than Aqueduct's David Terry and made the evening feel much more like a party than a sad lament.
Without realizing it at first, I had previously seen Aqueduct/David Terry at Lollapalooza in the summer of 2007 but he seemed like a transformed person. His mood was upbeat and it made a huge difference to see him play with a backup band and add in further instrumentation and hooks to the songs. Though Terry has gone through some pitfalls in the tour, including van troubles, he related in a genuinely bubbly fashion how though they'd had to cancel a tour date, they'd made a fan at the hotel inadvertently. Terry then proceeded to read his fan mail out loud joyously in a way that was appreciative rather than pompous. It was clear he felt comfortable amongst his fans and friends at Schubas and that made all the difference.
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