I connect everything and everyone here with something from Indiana. The Independent happens to be my Vogue of the west, where I saw Margot so many times. Last night’s show was the perfect melding of my two seemingly distant worlds.  I’d seen Margot 7 times prior at various venues, but always in Indy with my Indy friends and the crowds of loyal hometown followers. Well, this night, I was by myself and unlike previous shows, Margot was the out-of-towner and the opening bands were the hometown favorites.

Show Photos

Opening act, Judgement Day, tore through a set of orchestral rock numbers. Two brothers on violin & cello and a third member on drums, if you closed your eyes, you might have thought you were at an Apocalyptica show. The similarity in sound was only made better by the match-up of their end-of-days band names.

David Vandervelde, who has joined Margot for the entire tour, had an enjoyable performance. Admittedly, my mind was somewhere else during most of his set. I’d read an upsetting facebook status about a birthday gone wrong, yet again. I kept dazing off, realizing I had missed entire songs. Between that and the fact that I still can’t remember his name…I keep wanting to type Dan Vanderslice, I guess I can’t offer much of a detailed review. I enjoyed what I heard, though.

As soon as they left the stage, we all flooded the few feet between us and the stage. I staked my claim right on the stage, unaware that Emily’s keyboard would block my view of half the band. It’s strange, when you see a band so many times in such intimate settings, you start to feel like you should be able to say “hey”. (I didn’t, for the record) But as Emily fiddled with her keys and Edwards got his guitars in order, all within arm’s reach, I felt comfortable just chilling there, watching inquisitively. I was glad to see Edwards wasn’t already intoxicated, though he would be by the end of the show.

The guy standing next to me yelled “Hey, Tyler” to Tyler Watkins, one of the guitarists. I wondered how they knew each other but I let too much time pass and missed my chance to ask “casually”. As two drunken fellas on the other side of me continued to be obnoxious, the man leaned over and said “I hope they’re done by the time the show starts.” I agreed and used it as a chance to learn more. Turns out, he was in town from Indy for a tradeshow. He designed Margot’s sound studio. Small world. Instead of making new friends (as Tyler’s pre-show text demanded), I probably met the 1 person not from my new city, which could support some theories about Midwesterners being approachable. Anyway, he gave me his card after the show and asked me to send him links to my photos and I promised to hook him up with a link to info about Tyler’s music. I’m such a good friend. Always networking for other people. Oh, and he also commented at how nice it was to see Margot with a quiet audience. Good observation. At least at the 21+ shows, the folks have been pretty good about shutting up.

The members of Margot filed on to the stage, a stage I didn’t think would hold them all. It was a tight squeeze as the two brothers from Judgement Day, also sporting animal masks, joined in for the entire show. The show started out a little shakey. Sound wasn’t great but everything managed to fall in to place within a couple tracks. I think it was the most coherent I’ve ever seen/heard Edwards. They opened with a mix of old and new tracks. “Paper Kitten Nightmare” and “My Baby Shoots Her Mouth” were especially strong. The former felt all brand new. It’s nice to see them constantly re-inventing their songs. Very much what I like about Andrew Bird’s shows.

It was probably the best of Margot shows I’d seen. In a strange way, I felt proud. I mean this was my hometown band rocking out in San Francisco. And everyone was digging it. For the encore, Edwards returned to the stage for a solo number before the rest of the band joined for “Quiet as a Mouse,” the show closer. When he walked on stage, a man near the front yelled “I want to bang you!” I’m not sure how one should react to that statement, but I enjoyed Richard’s confused look, quick “huh?”, and immediate return to tuning his guitar as if nothing had been said.

After the show, I tried scoring a setlist from the stage. Security wouldn’t let me on stage, but a lady (no idea who she is) saw me and said “hey, are you wanting a setlist?” She grabbed me one and I let her know she was amazing. I saw Hubert (trumpet) as I was walking out, so I had a quick chat with him. Lovely guy. We had a nice conversation. I totally could have hung out with the band, but I was tired and had an early morning phone call with the London office hovering over my head, so I wished him a safe trip back to Indy and headed out.

I didn’t even realize it until just now, but it’s funny that I chose to drive my car to a show for the first time when the band was one that I’d always had to drive to see. I’m not sure how much time it actually saved me getting home. I had to park about 8 blocks away, and the hills still make me nervous so I drove about 25. It had been over 2 months since I’d driven my car, and it was nice to get it out for a spin. I’ve made big plans with myself to head up to Petaluma Sunday to visit a ranch. I need to get over my exploration anxiety. It’s just a little scarier to go off driving when you have no context as to where you are. My iPhone has already started alleviating those worries, though. I absolutely love it.

But back to Margot. I bought “Not Animal” because they only had “Animal” on vinyl, so I’ll probably buy the digital download. I’m loving this album, though. I never really fell in love with “Paper Kitten”. I definitely loved a few songs, but never the album as a whole, though it has grown on me. I’ve had “Not Animal” on repeat since I got to work this morning thru…well, it’s still going. It just feels like a more finished sound. And though the demo was nice, “Real Naked Girls” with its atmospheric piano touches is just beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And “Hip Hip Hooray” with its retro vibes, it’s just smooth and cool. It’s a solid album that is definitely going on my list for best of the year. I’m spreading the word. I enjoyed my one non-crowded Margot show experience, but they’re too great to go unnoticed. So be a good person and introduce a friend to Margot. Right now. I did.

Show Setlist (in their short-hand)

  1. Mine
  2. Carnival
  3. Nightmare!
  4. Chicago
  5. Vampires
  6. Mariel
  7. Vagina
  8. Lightning Rod
  9. Acid
  10. Lemon Eyes
  11. Baby Shoots
  12. Skeleton
  13. Cliffs

Show Photos