Concert Review: Silversun Pickups and the Henry Clay People live @ Kidrockers (The Echo – 11/8/09)

By Travis Woods

As part of the excellent and admirable Kidrockers series of concerts—in which indie music artists perform for children and their parents—the Silversun Pickups and the Henry Clay People, two hometown favorites returning from their respective fall tours, performed together at the Echo on Sunday afternoon, filling the room with a wall-to-wall mass of kids and their rock-savvy parents, with the Henry Clays modifying their rock ‘n roll classicism for the under 18-crowd (lyrical references to beer were quickly and humorously ad-libbed to Hi-C) and the Pickups playing a full-band acoustic set.

The Henry Clay People’s set was one that emphasized the absurdist humor and silliness of the band, featuring as its centerpiece—amongst such standard and crowd pleasing HCP fare as “Something in the Water” and “Switch Kids”—a goofy and guitar-driven ten-minute take on “Old McDonald Had A Farm,” in which the band took animal requests from the audience throughout the song, beginning with a cow and ending with a monkeygoat.  It was that kind of show, and one the Clay People were perfect for after a long tour.

Headliners the Silversun Pickups were on next, playing a fiery and funny set of acoustic originals, stripping back their monolithic fuzzbox sound for the smaller ears in the audience while continually infusing the quiet sound with massive energy and heart.  Opening with a foot-stomped and insistent “Rusted Wheel,” the band ran through the singles to this year’s Swoon—a frenzied “Panic Switch,” featuring Brian Aubert’s throat-cracked screams over a hushed acoustic bedrock, and the gentle, swaying hooks of “Substitution”—before taking a question-and-answer session from the kids in the audience.  Upon being asked what their first song was, Aubert led the band in an impromptu surprise performance of the breathy “Kissing Families” from 2005’s Pikul EP, before bringing the show to an epic close with a singalong version of “Lazy Eye,” during which a parade of children and balloons crashed the stage to surround the band.  While the short performances definitely left the crowd wanting more, not a single adult or child was seen wandering the venue after the show without a dazed smile across their face.

November 9, 2009 | Filed Under Concert Reviews, Exclusive Features 

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