Hideout Block Party review

Hideout Block Party
The Hideout, Chicago
September 7 & 8, 2007

After last year’s ridiculously perfect pairing of Touch And Go’s eclectic roster of artists and Chicago’s most delicious “dump” (as Frames frontman Glen Hansard eloquently put it Saturday night), the 2007 edition of the annual Hideout Block Party had big shoes to fill.

Head Of Femur

The Touch And Go 25th anniversary celebration expanded Hideout’s soirée into three days and even got Steve Albini onstage for a Big Black reunion. Such unique collaborations were absent from the proceedings last weekend and revelers only got to mill about Hideout’s industrial backdrop on Friday evening and Saturday, but sweet rewards awaited those who took advantage of the mild weather (even though Friday’s skies told a different story in the hours leading up to kickoff).

This year’s lineup was both parts local and global. An impressive roster of Chicago talent, most notably The 1900s, and bands from abroad alternated between two adjacent stages. Unlike Lollapalooza, which tries to be the biggest, and Pitchfork, which tries to be the hippest, the Block Party is just right, as Goldilocks might say. The proceeds benefit local charities like Tuesday’s Child, Literacy Works, and Drummond School; the stages aren’t blazoned with sponsorship names; Yoko Ono did not threaten to batter the eardrums of all those in attendance; and who could ask for a better MC than Hideout’s own verbose Tim Tuten? Young kids frenetically raced around bouncing beach balls while more seasoned concertgoers weaved in and out of the crowd hand in hand.

Here’s a sampling of the weekend’s heavy hitters:

The Frames: Andrew Bird might have received home court advantage, but why didn’t this Dublin quintet headline the whole damn thing? Longtime friends of Hideout, The Frames are riding high on a wave of well-deserved publicity from Hansard’s appearance in a little summer movie called Once (that inspired Steven Spielberg from here until Hanukkah). Taking full advantage of the surging crowd and Hansard’s irrepressible charm, The Frames stuck to their older, crescendoing anthems, urging the audience to sing along at every turn. Blistering renditions of “Revelate” and “The Stars Are Underground” brought back the days when the group shook the tiny confines of Uncommon Ground and Hansard’s duet with two delighted girls from the crowd on the film’s centerpiece and potential Oscar hopeful, “Falling Slowly,” drew a line in the sand designating a new chapter in the band’s career. Closing with the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” with a little help from the female members of the Blue Ribbon Glee Club — a full-half hour over their allotted time — was the biggest treat of all. Digesting The Frames in one hour is like hearing with only one ear or seeing with only one eye. Sure, it gets the job done, but what’s the cost? (Which, not so coincidently, is also the title of the band’s latest album.)

Bloc Party: Jump starting their North American tour, Bloc Party came to play at the Block Party. Too cute. Especially satisfying was the fact that somewhere between the release of their first career-making record, Silent Alarm, in 2005, and 2007’s A Weekend In The City lead singer Kele Okereke’s decidedly British vocals finally match the records in a live setting, instead of sounding disastrously off key. Sprightly and bringing out the raver in us all (all right, so only the folks up front actually danced, fist-pumping their way through the set — this is Chicago after all) the band pulsated during the most indelible cuts from their debut. “Banquet” and “This Modern Love” echoed out into the clear night, while their latest single, “I Still Remember,” cast a lovelorn glow over the proceedings.

The 1900s: Local outfit The 1900s hold their own when put up against more seasoned performers. As the pre-coming out party for their first full-length album, Cold & Kind (Parasol), which drops on October 2nd, the septet already showcase a prowess with the songs onstage that makes the record pale in comparison. “Acutiplantar Dude” and “When I Say Go” shine thanks to the beguiling presence of vocalist Jeanine O’Toole (someone’s been taking tambourine-preening lessons from Stevie Nicks) and lead vocalist Edward Anderson is the linchpin who holds the whole jangly, ’70s-inspired affair together. Introduced by Cynthia Plaster Caster herself, The 1900s lived up to the reputation left behind by many of the former groupie’s . . . erm . . . models.

Art Brut: These South By Southwest darlings put on a blitzkrieg of a set that exemplified the sheer energy and everyday bloke status of their debut album, Bang Bang Rock And Roll. Unfortunately, they’re currently in the clutches of a sophmore slump with 2007’s It’s A Bit Complicated. No need to worry though, the quintet savagely played a number of tunes from Bang Bang reverberated all the way to North Avenue. Lead singer Eddie Argos payed homage to just about everyone on the Block Party bill during a seething “Bad Weekend.”

Craziest Sighting: Sure, it’s an outdoor festival, so you’re bound to run into some of the acts over the course of two days, but who would expect to see Art Brut guitarist Ian Catskilkin hop the bar inside Hideout to grab a few packs of cigarettes . . .during the band’s set?

Whaa?: Street poet Thax Douglas commandeering the stage before The Frames’ set. Ok, so he was invited, but do the bits of free verse have anything to do with the upcoming act at all?

Better Luck Next Year: By Saturday night food was on short supply, yet the lines remained obscenely long. How is it that fish tacos are one of the only choices left at 8:30 p.m.? There’s gotta be a Dominick’s close by. Run over and grab some hamburgers, chicken breasts, anything.

Best T-shirt: “Operation: Desert Storm — 100% American And Proud Of It”

Early Saturday: Judging by the slowly arriving audience, the eclectic schedule for Saturday afternoon didn’t beckon the more fickle members of Chicago’s exhausted summer festival goers. Ourselves we arrived a hair late to miss an anticipated set by newly accepted local Cass McCombs, who surely roadtested material from October’s forthcoming *Dropping The Writ* (Domino) . . . Instead we were treated to a square-dance and Virginia reel lesson from the Golden Horse Ranch Square Dance Band . . . Chicago-based indie poppers Head Of Femur remain a pared-down quartet after launching years ago with a dozen members. Prepping songs from next month’s The Leader And The Falcon EP, their indie prog got a kick in the butt from the title track and “River Ramble,” while a stripped version of their “classic” “80 Steps To Jonah” still rollicked giddily . . . I don’t know if being from New York should have made me more pumped about them, but ODeath just smelled like more city boys playing hillbilly. Going shirtless and shredding a violin bow added a trashy touch, but dammit, Hideout plays host to this stuff nightly . . . The awaited return of Baltimore electro mastermind Dan Deacon was as striking a contrast to his surroundings as ODeath were unremarkably part of it. Blasting unsettling beats from a low stage in the middle of the crowd, he drew younger hipsters instantly to him while the aging insurgents and their kids largely kept a distance and put the beer vendors to work.

— Janine Schaults (with Steve Forstneger contributing)

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly