Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Schubas
September 25th, 2005Ok, technically the show was for The National, and Clap Your Hands was only the opening band. But apparently no one told the crowd, which was obviously there for Clap Your Hands. And for good reason – they put on an incredible show, quite possibly the best I have seen all year. At every really good show I see, there’s a moment where I am experiencing absolute, and total pleasure. At this moment, I often picture a dog riding in a car with his head out the window. I felt like this at The Arcade Fire at Lollapalooza, The Stereophonics at Coachella, and Autolux at Double Door. And I felt that way though the entire set by Clap Your Hands at Schubas.
For me, seeing Clap Your Hands at Schubas was a bit like finding a time machine, and using it to go back to an early Talking Heads performance at CBGB’s. The similarities between the two bands are undeniable – the squelchy synth parts, the stabbing guitar parts, and of course the quirky vocals. The lead singer for Clap Your Hands is 65% David Byrne, and 35% Gordon Gano of The Violent Femmes. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not even for most people to be more accurate.
But it was definitely for me, and for this crowd. I haven’t seen a crowd this into a band in quite a while. It just goes to show what forces Pitchfork and P2P networks have become. Personally, I read about them on Pitchfork, downloaded their album via P2P, and was on their site looking for show dates 20 minutes later. I would have driven to New York to see them, but luckily they were playing in Chicago soon. But based on this performance, the drive would have been well worth it.