Although Geographer would attest that “Heaven Waits,” little did each of us know that heaven is a place on earth, and we found it at that sold-out DC9 show last Thursday, where not only did Geographer’s performance blow us all away, The Chain Gang of 1974 and Miniature Tigers helped keep us all on Cloud 9 for the entire evening.
As usually, I was rushing to get to the show in time to see the opening band Pretty Nice, the first of the four bands that evening, but unfortunately I didn’t make it for them. I thankfully and unexpectedly arrived for Chain Gang of 1974, who I was convinced would play later in the evening, but had just started their set when I arrived. Straight outta Los Angeles, Chain Gang also may have come straight outta the ’80s and will charm all devoted New Wave- and Paisley-era fans.
Polished, poised, and full of punk rock swagger, frontman Kamtin Mohager is The Chain Gang of 1974. He’s on the cover of Chain Gang’s latest release, Wayward Fire, all the band’s t-shirts, and you really can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s on stage. He’s got the rock star power stance down, cocking his hips and bass into the air during the breakdown of “Hold On.” Polished like The Killers but with the emotional integrity of The Stills, Chain Gang of 1974 released Wayward Fire last year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear “Hold On” or “Heartbreakin’ Scream” on the radio one day.
Mohanger has no problem bantering with the crowd, encouraging the audience to dance and commending one girl in the front who is spazzing out. I’m right there with her, as “Heartbreakin’ Scream” lavishes us with vocal stylings and synth esthetics reminiscent of Andy McCluskey of OMD. “Hold On” then busts out in a “Bring on the Dancing Horses” breakdown, revealing a mutual love of post punk and Echo and the Bunnymen. I’m easily smitten when such a spell is cast.
Following Chain Gang’s set was not Miniature Tigers as I had anticipated, but Geographer. The whole audience fought to get to the front of the stage. I should have waited to get my drink because there was literally a blockade of bodies preventing me from returning to my group of friends in the front row. For this reason, I didn’t really get the full flavor of Geographer’s live show, but I certainly was blown away by singer Michael Deni’s falsetto, as beautifully rendered as Pat Rossi’s of Active Child.
Geographer just released Myth, full of songs with hook-laden synths and beats, although a bit less dancey than their preceding record Animal Shapes, which originally contained their best known track, “Kites” (also released on Myth). Regardless of the slower tracks, there were many hands in the air and bodies moving to “Kaleidoscope” and the spaced-out (Washed Out-esque) “Vesijärvi.” Deni thanks the audience for selling out Geographer’s first show in DC.
And as the crowd starts to empty, I start to feel for Miniature Tigers, who take to the stage to an ecstatic crowd slowly filtering out of the room. But midway through their first song, as Charlie Brand is absolutely charming the pants off the audience, I feel really sorry for everyone who didn’t stick it out. The room, still pretty darn full, had enough gaps to allow me a chance to push myself to the front of the stage, where Brand made sure to catch my eye (he was very good at engaging audience members individually) while playing songs off of their new LP Mia Pharoah, just released in March. This is fantastic dream-pop-meets-New-Wave to the highest order. If Simple Minds and of Montreal formed a super group, you might find songs as artful and electrically charged with personality as Miniature Tigers have created.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a front man transform to the fully sweat-drenched state, but by the end of his set, Brand was completely soaked. Bleeding into the audience during some of the dancier songs, including “Female Doctor,” Brand had every girl in that damn audience starry-eyed and smitten. He’d saddle up next to the prettiest little things in the room and sing lines at them as if they inspired him to do so.
A show so good I stayed out way later than I usually do, Miniature Tigers, Geographer, and The Chain Gang of 1974 made it “Easy as All That” to stay out and forget all my troubles because “baby, you make crazy for you.”
Photos by Sarah Gormley
Geographer
The Chain Gang of 1974
