The Fiery Furnaces
Date: June 26, 2007 A Little Curious While most bands infuse their songs with an added urgency and energy when they play live, The Fiery Furnaces go much farther in deconstructing their source material. Whether skewing the instrumental arrangements and vocal delivery or melding their songs into lengthy medleys, the band is as adventurous live as they are on album. Their stop at Barrymore's marked the third time that I had seen the group; and they continued a pattern of differing greatly from tour to tour. The opening bands on this night were suitably chaotic, starting with Montreal four-piece Thundrah. The band members traded lead vocal duties during the set, although most of the screaming was indistinct behind a wall of instrumentation. At one point, the keyboardist suffered through some technical difficulties but it wasn't the kind of set that required precision, anyway, and the band plowed ahead. The explosive set was visually best summed up by the scene of the guitarist and main singer rolling on the floor during the last song, knocking over mic stands, and crawling on the drum kit. Great fun. Although the show was somewhat behind schedule, I was glad that The Hot Springs played a full set with the night's middle slot. Like Thundrah, The Hot Springs are a four-piece Montreal outfit comprising two guys and two girls. Compared to Thundrah, Hot Springs were more focused but still highly energetic. They also possess a captivating frontwoman in Giselle Webber, who suffered through a faulty guitar grounding that gave her "eighteen thousand shocks" during the first song. Webber was amusing in her crowd banter and great in her performing, whether singing in English or French. When one song freed her from guitar duties, she ended up rolling around on the stage and crawling through the legs of bassist Frédéric Sauvé. In the end, this was a very enjoyable set that left me hoping to hear more in the future. When The Fiery Furnaces played Bluesfest last year, they went with a fairly conventional rock arrangement: Matt and Elanor Friedberger on guitars, Jason Lowenstein on bass, and Bob D'Amico on drums. While I call this a conventional arrangement, it was a significant departure for a band had made very strong use of keyboards, on record and at the first concert that I saw from them. On this night, Matt was back on keys, Elanor restricted herself to vocals, and Lowenstein was masterful on guitar, utilizing an octave pedal to fill in for an absent bass. While D'Amico returned behind the kit, he was joined by percussionist Mike Goodman. Naturally, this change in configuration meant another unique concert from a band that seems to always surprise. After a false start during the warm-up/intro, the Furnaces employed a technique that I had heard from them before, serving up a lengthy medley of songs from Bitter Tea. With seemingly neither the band nor the audience pausing for a breath, that album was presented at a dizzying pace, with "In My Little Thatched Hut," "I'm in No Mood," the title track, and "Teach Me Sweetheart" among the highlights of a rapidly-shifting piece. At times, the band's musical approach can be so dense as to be draining, so I didn't mind when Elanor disappeared for a brief break after the medley, allowing Matt to take the time to introduce the band (and note that Goodman received the strongest applause). Matt again struck me as the general on stage, observing his fellow players; but he also seemed to be in great spirits, at one point treating the fans standing against the stage to a round of beer. With Bitter Tea sufficiently examined, the Fiery Furnaces spent the remainder of the night on songs from their back catalogue, with a brief glimpse into their upcoming album. The first offering, "Single Again" was actually one of my favourites, although the whole night was a treat. The addition of Goodman's percussion gave the entire performance a new colour, while Lowenstein's guitar skill came to the forefront on several occasions. With as much musical adventurousness as the band showed, there were a few moments that I thought missed the mark but these were a small price to pay for an exciting, unpredictable concert. Once again, The Fiery Furnaces dazzled with a very memorable performance. With two very enjoyable opening acts on the bill, this concert was another high point for the Capital Idea! Festival. The Hot Springs setlist 
The Fiery Furnaces setlist 
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