3 Bands + 3 Countries + 3 Eras = 1 Good Night at the TLA

Note: In this review, Phillyist is going to make some musical and pop culture references that we understand some of you may be too young to understand. For those of you, Phillyist would like to say two things. (1) We're including some helpful keywords so you can do follow-up research on Wikipedia, at your local music store, or in your parents record collection (see: LP or Long Playing Record) (2) the fact that some of you are too young to remember these things hurts us deep down in our very soul (which, incidentally, is where we we've got the boogie-woogie music. (see: Eric Clapton)

Last night's show at the TLA was a sojurn through our personal musical history. Opening act People in Planes, a rock band from Wales, put Phillyist in mind of the grunge bands we never warmed to in the 90s (see: Pearl Jam, Nirvana) and how they might have sounded had then been influenced by the pseudo-metal bands of the 80s we were far too fond of. They were harder rocking than hair bands (see: Poison) but not quite heavy metal (see: Motorhead) A wailing vocal here, a power chord there, and the occasional interesting drum riff...but all-in-all uninspired.

Swedish rockers, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, on the other hand, were a celebration of 70s-influenced sights and sounds. (Phillyist has to own up here - although we were alive in the 70s, we barely remember them. However, we're a big fan of the music, and we've seen the archival footage - so you can trust us.) The (International) Noise Conspiracy virtually exploded on to stage with an energy that seemed boundless. During the first song alone there was an extraordinary amount of jumping, a guitarist climbed the stacks to play from a king-on-the -mountain perspective, and singer (and, apparently sexiest man in Swenden) Dennis Lyxzén began what was to be a whole show's worth of stage acrobatics (see Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler) and microphone juggling. It exhausted us to watch them, we have no idea how they maintained that energy for the whole show. Their look was decidedly 70s, from their matching coordinating red-and-black ensembles (see: The Ramones), their svelter-than-svelte physiques (see: Iggy Pop) and their penchant for hip wiggling, nipple flashing, and at least one act of a band member undressing another (David Bowie / Ziggy Stardust). These guys were absolute entertainers. It surprised us when Lyxzén referred to them as a "punk rock band;" because Phillyist defines punk rock the Old School way (see Sex Pistols. Do not see Avril Lavigne - ever, if you can avoid it) and Interational Noise Conspiracy clearly understood the concepts of melody and harmony and knew how to play their instruments. However, Lyxzén mentioned The Clash (see: London Calling) on more than one occassion - and we can see how their sort of punk rock was a big influence on their sound In fact, it seems that The Clash may have influenced them idealolocally as well as musically - since they used both their stage time and merchandise table to make clear their social and political idealolgy. They closed their set by saluting the crowd while "Power to the People" played overhead. Respect, guys.

And finally - there was The Bravery - hailing from New York, USA. From the one single we heard on the website prior to the show, we must admit we were expecting a heavily eyelinered, brooding sound (see: The Cure, Morrissey), but instead discovered what a New Wave (see Blondie ) band might sound like if they, too, had listened to a lot of The Clash. The Bravery pleased the enthusiastic crowd by playing a good mix of music from their eponymous CD, as well as two new numbers which ("Angelina" and "Oh Glory") which were written on the road. Singer Sam Endicott (who, we learned at the post-show meet-and-greet, writes things across his fingers for performances (see: Night of the Hunter, The Blues Brothers). Last night's word, for those of you keeping score at home, was "VISCERAL") endeared himself to the audience between songs by giving "Storyteller" type explanations for many of their tunes, including the tragic tale behind "Tyrant" :a love (and real estate arrangement) gone awkwardly wrong. (Phillyist wishes you good luck at tomorrow's show, Sam. Just remember you're a rockstar now, and she cleary doesn't deserve you.) The Bravery closed their encore with a cover of INXS' (see: Michael Hutchence) "Don't Change," thus making our 80's flashback complete.

There are just two things we don't understand about The Bravery's show. (1) Why were their roadies dressed as nearly naked Mexican Wrestlers? (see: Strongbad) and (2) What was the deal with all those bright, incessantly flashing lights they aimed directly at the audience? Were they trying to induce a seizure (see: Pokemon) - or were they using light-sensitive mind-control techniques (see: The Prisoner) to influence us into buying their CD? Ok, ok, we bought the CD because The Bravery thouroughly rocked the TLA (it was "Tyrant" and "An Honest Mistake" that did us and our wallet in). But now that we and our slight headache are firmly back in the aughts, we want The Bravery and their lighing crew to know, our eyes are not nearly as happy with you as our ears were.

Photo Credit: Aced Magazine