Minus the Bear photo courtesy of the band’s Facebook page.
This weekend brings some of punk, ska, indie rock and emo’s heavy hitters to Chicago’s Humboldt Park to participate in Riot Fest. Just some of the talent converging in Chicago for the three-day event includes The Offspring, Elvis Costello, NOFX, Andrew W.K., Rise Against, Alkaline Trio and rare reunion sets from Slapstick, Chiodos and (Milwaukee’s own) The Promise Ring.
Though Milwaukee itself isn’t privy to this amazing cast of bands (instead, we get to see Third Eye Blind 16 years too late at Rock The Green), our city did reap some benefit from Riot Fest in the form of two participants, Minus The Bear and Cursive, making a point to squeeze in a show at The Rave Friday before rioting Saturday.
Arriving too late to see opener Caspian (Sorry, dudes. Didn’t know it was actually possible for a concert to begin on time), we entered just as the Omaha, Neb., indie rock vets of Cursive played their first notes. Led by legendary front man Tim Kasher (“legendary” in a very small, specific circle, that is) navigated the band through the venues cavernous acoustics the best he could, willing the
– at that point, half- to three-quarters full
– Rave to take notice with a boisterous performance.
Gearing the band’s set list to the predominately younger crowd with less exposure to the band’s decade-old masterpieces Domestica and The Ugly Organ, Cursive focused the glut of its maybe 45-minute performance on its post-hiatus (2005-present) material from Happy Hollow, I Am Gemini and Mama, I’m Swollen. But the band was sure to reward longtime fans along the way with shaken-up live renditions of “The Casualty,” “Sierra” and “Art Is Hard” before giving way to the headliner.
Under the cover of darkness, fog and a murky electronic loop, Seattle’s Minus The Bear came out to a now-full crowd and broke the ice with the first two songs from its days old full-length Infinity Overhead. Following the obligatory new album promotion, the Bear brigade cut all pretensions (or set aside most, pretensions at least) and treated the enthusiastic crowd
– which included a surprisingly talented dancer who weaved a glowing string into his belt and a dude whose cutoff jean shorts would make Daisy Duke blush – to an array of older songs that traversed the band’s 11-year-old and eight-release-long catalog.
As a band that is both a pioneer of the laptop-loop stage accompaniment age and a one that prides itself on intricate guitar taps and oddball time signatures, Minus The Bear’s live show held up surprisingly well. At times, even too well. Not many complaints can registered against the 18-song, 90-minute performance, except the set was almost verbatim the album version of MTB hits. Staying that true to recorded form is a task both tall and enviable, but also one that restricts movement and sacrifices showmanship. Aside from guitarist Dave Knudson’s spastic gestures and scant audience interaction, the band remained relatively stationary and focused on hitting each note with perfection
– which it did. It seemed like nobody, save for this gray-haired curmudgeon leaning against a wall and taking notes seemed to notice, though.
The rest of the crowd was dancing, clapping and loving each stop MTB made along the way. From Highly Refined Pirates mainstays “Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse” and “Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo” to the more traditionally named “My Time” and shocking, falsetto harmony show-stealer “Into the Mirror” off OMNI along with standards from Menos el Oso and Planet of Ice, few stones were left unturned during the performance.
As the show neared its perceived conclusion, the band settled into a pocket of subdued new songs, as roadies chucked gigantic powder blue balloons into the crowd to be listlessly bounced as the similarly slow-moving set grinded to a temporary halt. The band exited the stage, feigning the show’s end, only to reemerge minutes later to meet the already-blaring “Dr. L’Ling” intro sample back on stage for three more songs, capped off by crowd favorite “Pachuca Sunrise,” for calling it a night.
