Louis XIV/Hot Hot Hear/Editors at the Newport Music Hall

A mannequin. With tape on her nipples. That pretty much sums up the show last night. Or at least, Louis XIV's set anyway. If I were to go on, I would say that last night's triple bill at the Newport was a: Cold, b: A hell of a lot of fun, c: Fucking Cold, d: Sold Out, and e: REALLY FUCKING COLD. I think it was about 1 degree outside, and not a whole lot warmer inside. And of course, the bouncers saw fit to open the doors on either side of the stage between sets. Because, you know, when it's in the single digits it's the perfect time to let a nice breeze through. Aside from the cold though, the show pretty damn good.

As soon as Louis XIV walked on stage, I was struck by their presence. I've spoken before about the loss of the rockstar in this age of MySpace and band blogs and the utter disappearance of the fourth wall, but it's still incredibly refreshing to see a band play the fucking rockstar like they were born to do it. With Jason Hill's coattails (he was wearing a jacket with honest-to-goodness tails), the white axe of the guy with the fedora (I think it might have been Brian Karcsig, but I'm not sure), the strut, the pose, the mannequin, everything, it all added up to Rock Star with a capital fucking Rawk. Combine that Rock Star attitude with the girlie-mag lyrics and you get a perfect set of raunch rock on a Wednesday night. The set was a pretty even mix of older material and several tracks from the forthcoming, "Slick Dogs and Ponies", but it's safe to say that the new stuff was a natural progression from the last album, "The Best Little Secrets are Kept". One song in particular, "There's a Traitor in This Room", was just fucking epic. Fist pounding drums, dirty words, slutty guitars, ass-shaking strings, the whole package wrapped neatly in a raunchy tune for our aural pleasure. With the final notes still hanging in the air, the band took their Rock Star selves offstage, and the only sad thing about the show was the fact that neither of the other two bands would come close to matching the energy and charisma of Louis XIV.

The last time Hot Hot Heat came through Columbus I missed them (although I have seen them before, back in 2005? Opening for the Killers)but when reading about the show, I heard some not-so-good things about their performance at that time. According to the reviewer (I can't seem to find the review), the songs all sounded pretty same-y, and the band were pretty boring to watch. Now, I'm not sure I agree with that take on Hot Hot Heat, but it was something that was in the back of my mind as I watched the band last night. My mind was changed in mere moments, however, thanks to lead singer, Steve Bays who was a veritable ball of energy, bouncing around the stage the entire time, and while his vocals rarely ventured far from his trademark, open-mouthed falsetto, the songs were pitch-perfect recreations of the tunes on the album. One thing that surprised me was the lack of dancing from the crowd. Considering the heavy airplay that Hot Hot Heat has always gotten on CD101, I would have guessed that the majority of the folks in the pit would have been hopping and dancing as the band trotted out hit after hit, and yet, the most action I saw was the bobbing of heads. Maybe this was due to the fact that the band's latest album, "Happiness Ltd." left a lot to be desired, or maybe the confines were a bit too close at the sold out show. Whatever the reason, there wasn't a lot of action on the floor, which was sad considering almost every song had a killer hook and a rhythm section that was begging for dancers. With a final Keith Moon-style toss of his Keyboard, Bays and Co. trotted off as the last bars of "Goodnight, Goodnight" hung in the chill air.

As I was looking over my notes just now, I realized that I don't have a lot written down for the headlining band. It's not that Editors didn't warrant extra space or time in my Moleskine, it's that I was too absorbed in the show to jot much down. With Tom Smith's incredible vocals and the guitars peeling off into the night, it was hard to concentrate on anything but the music. The singing was even more like Ian Curtis than I had previously thought, but as Emily put it, "It's just technically perfect. Perfect tone, warmth, everything" He does seem to exhibit some of the gestural affectations of the troubled Joy Division front man (along with the vocal stylings), but he takes a bit of the edge off. The songs are less frantic and less raw, but in my mind, those are two aspects that put Editors above Joy Division in the listenability category, for me at least. The set was majestic and jittery, with only momentary lulls from some of the slower numbers on "An End Has A Start", which was reflected in the vapid, lifeless stares from crowd. When they launched into the title track, however, the crowd went fucking nuts, and for good reason. The massive track shone with the swirling spotlights dancing around the walls and Tom Smith rattling the roof with his huge pipes. The songs did little to add to the recordings we're all so familiar with, but the sound of a band like Editors doesn't really lend itself to extended jam sessions and improv bridges. With guitars still humming on top of the Amps, we all shuffled into the single-digit cold, grateful for the last few moments of shared body heat, dreading that first breath of frigid air on the other side of the double doors, and remembering the electrifying rock show we had all just experienced.

"Flash's Theme" Louis XIV
"Crawl Down The Wall" Editors

Louis XIV: Official MySpace Buy
Hot Hot Heat: Official MySpace Buy
Editors: Official MySpace Buy