Camera Obscura
Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago
2/3/07
Admittedly, I was immediately drawn to Camera Obscura because of their band name. This Scottish six piece, prominently fronted by the understated Tracy-Anne makes for sometimes subtle melodies. You have to be a patient listener. In a way, it is like the comfort food of music. They aren’t necessarily doing anything original or seemingly out to change the world but there is something reassuring about them in the same way that fellow Scots Belle and Sebastian are reassuring. Simply put: after a long day, sometimes you are glad when they are there.
The difficulty I had with the set they played was that they laid it very heavily with some of their soft slow songs and because it was live, they perhaps could have put a bigger kick into them to bring out the melodies and make them a bit catchier. Instead, it felt like the set dragged until the single heavy end “Hey Lloyd” and “If Looks Could Kill” and a two song encore in which they brought out members of The Essex Green and various friends from the audience to sing with them. It was really a joy to see The Essex Green so happy to be on stage with them albeit a little bittersweet considering this was the last night they were playing together.) Unfortunately, this was one of the only times in the show where I felt they were actually having fun. Most of the time, Tracy-Anne who has an understated presence similar to Victoria Bergsman (formerly) of The Concretes played underneath a dark purple glow interacting minimally with the audience. Although she did acknowledge the fact of the full crowd on such a cold night. Their previous tour stops were in Canada, which the band reported was not surprisingly just as cold.
As I stated previously, I enjoy the comfort of Camera Obscura and I feel they have grown as a band between Underachievers Please Try Harder and Let’s Get Out of the Country but I’m not quite sure how I feel about them headlining a place the size of Logan Square Auditorium at this point in their career. To me, they lack both the confidence and the melodic hooks that a great headlining band provides with a limiting stage presence for a larger place. They were much more suited for the Empty Bottle show I saw them play this summer when their previous Logan Square show was moved due to a power outage. A better choice for a band with a higher sense of twee and chemistry to headline a show with The Essex Green may have been New Zealand’s The Brunettes though for some reason they don’t seem to have the following that Camera Obscura is quickly gaining. In essence, I found myself swaying but not dancing and, even though I knew the words to some of the songs, I was unable to make them my anthems.
Listen to Camera Obscura on myspace
Click more to see upcoming shows and a setlist:
Setlist:
Upcoming shows:
Feb 6 2007 8:00P
The Record Bar Kansas City, Kansas
Feb 8 2007 8:00P
The Bluebird Theatre Denver, Colorado
Feb 10 2007 8:00P
Polyforum Siqueiros Mexico City
Feb 12 2007 8:00P
Neumos Seattle, Washington
Feb 13 2007 8:00P
Richard’s On Richard’s Vancouver, British Columbia
Feb 14 2007 8:00P
Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Feb 16 2007 8:00P
Bimbo’s San Francisco, California
Feb 17 2007 8:00P
El Ray Theatre Los Angeles, California
Feb 22 2007 8:00P
Troubadour Brisbane, Northern Territory
Feb 23 2007 8:00P
Laneway Festival Melbourne, Victoria
Feb 23 2007 8:00P
Northcote Social Club Melbourne, Western Australia
Feb 24 2007 8:00P
Laneway Festival Melbourne
Mar 2 2007 8:00P
Perth International Arts Centre Perth, Western Australia
Mar 3 2007 8:00P
Laneway Festival Brisbane
Mar 4 2007 8:00P
Laneway Festival Sydney
Mar 5 2007 8:00P
Annandale Hotel Sydney, New South Wales
Mar 7 2007 8:00P
San Fransisco Bath house Wellington, Wellington
Mar 9 2007 8:00P
The Kings Arms Auckland, Auckland
Mar 27 2007 8:00P
Liquid Rooms Edinburgh, Scotland
Mar 30 2007 8:00P
Lemon Tree Aberdeen, Scotland
Apr 2 2007 8:00P
Academy Newcastle, Northeast
Apr 3 2007 8:00P
Ghee Club Birmingham, Midlands
Apr 4 2007 8:00P
Joiners Southampton
Apr 18 2007 8:00P
Koko London, London and South East
Apr 19 2007 8:00P
Zodiac Oxford, South
Apr 20 2007 8:00P
Jabez Clegg Manchester, Northern Ireland
Apr 21 2007 8:00P
ABC 1 Glasgow, Scotland
February 6th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
We actually headed over to Kalamazoo, MI on Friday to catch them at the Kraftbrau Brewery. An ok show but no where near as good as last July’s at the Empty Bottle. The crowd didn’t necessarily help matters either as you couldn’t help but get the impression that a lot of people were there because it was something to do and not because they were fans of the band. I’d also go so far to say that besides a handful of 50 and over individuals, we were the next eldest in line which isn’t necessarily flattering at 33.
Lots of students.
February 6th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
At the LSA show I felt the same way @ 28. lots of teenagers with their folks which is acutally quite a nice site to see, parents involved with their kids.