LIVE REVIEW: Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s @ GAMH 11/16/2010
photo credit: baeble-music
It’s Monday, November 15th, and I had just found out that Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s had to cancel their show in Santa Barbara due to illness. My heart just about fell to my feet thinking that the show they were playing the next day, November 16th, at the Great American Music Hall would be cancelled too. Even though I have had the chance to see Margot a few times before, the thought of missing them put a black cloud over the remainder of my day. Tuesday arrived and I was religiously checking Twitter and Facebook to see something about a cancelation of that nights show. All day long, loading and re-loading my Twitter feed…nothing. Suddenly, it was like the seas had parted and that black cloud turned itself into a double rainbow. Thank God for a quick & healthy recovery, because seeing Margot live is something I constantly look forward to and what trucks me through that day’s prior errands and activities.
Margot is on tour to promote their newest record Buzzard. The band took a bit of a turn with this album, reinventing their sound and a bit of themselves in the process. Though they’ve gotten rid of a few members and added a couple more guitars, their live sound is still just as tight and delightful as I had remembered. Definitely not a disappointment; they never are, and they probably never will be (let’s hope).
I must admit, it took me a few listens to really appreciate Buzzard the same way I appreciate their previous records. I was excited to hear them play their new material, and I knew that’s what most of the show would consist of; however, I, along with 90% of everyone else crammed into GAMH, got that nostalgic and happy feeling when they launched into their older songs from their previous albums, Animal/Not Animal and The Dust of Retreat. Though the crowd was pretty collected and turned on by the newer tunes, it was the older material that completely enraptured everybody and filled the venue with sing-a-long echos and awkward dance moves (the best dancers were not in attendance that night).
The band went through a dozen or so songs before exiting the stage. As always, the chants for more brought frontman, Richard Edwards, back on stage to play a few more songs, including one of my personal favorites, “My Baby Shoots Her Mouth Off.” I always love seeing an acoustic set from Margot because it shows just how great they are stripped down as they are with a full band. The other members eventually took the stage with Edwards to close out the show and leave all of us in San Francisco craving more. They are definitely a band one must see live to fully appreciate and get the feel for; their stage presence, along with their arrangement of sounds will truly leave you captivated and under their spell.