CAMERAPHONIC

There it was in the darkened Thursday night shining brightly with all its yellow glory. The Great American was proclaiming to the city of San Francisco it’s ownership of Battles for that night. I could almost hear the sinister laugh of evil delight coming from the ticket booth…muahahahahaaa ala Vincent Price. (That one’s for you Lizzie!) This was going to be special. Already there was a crowd of hipsters lining up to get into the venue with their tickets in hand. A line and a couple of people asking for spare change was all that stood in my way.

I’ve already been to the GAMH 4 times this year but this felt different. There was energy and it was definitely kinetic of some sort. Maybe it was the anticipation of the crowd, but I can tell you it was the moment I got my photo pass that I felt the butterflies. What do I do about that? Beer. Stella to be exact. We had a couple of minutes before the opening act. So the night starts out with No Age.

They were loud.

And then it was over! Stanier emerges from backstage to set up his kit and the ridiculously high cymbal. Macbooks, guitars, keyboards…all in a frenzy to go from one band to the next. I was hoping for the yellow drum throne because let’s face it, yellow drums = phat pictures. And then there was silence as the band removes themselves from the stage.

Battles kickstarts their set with Dave coming out and setting up a killer loop. Songs that I was looking forward to during the night were Tonto, Atlas, Tras, Hi-Lo, and Race-In. From the first note I knew this was going to be the best show I have seen this year and that includes seeing Minus the Bear who are also quite amazing. At one point during the first song I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like the Koolaid guy…OH YEAH !

“Atlas” got the floor rolling. The distinct rhythm of that song got the sold out crowd up. The odd vocal parts Ty sings adds to the already peculiar sounds these guys are able to conjure up. They use a mixture of traditional instruments and electronic wizardry to create landscapes of rhythm, blips, notes, and loops. It is so interesting to watch 3 guitarists all play supportive roles to Stanier’s military style beats. He is definitely the focal point of the band but is never the entire focus. Many times I was intrigued to hear what part was playing and how they all related to one another. In a band like this, their music doesn’t need words to understand what emotion or thought is conveyed.

D and I hung out a while after the show to meet with the band. They were off to Portland to play a show the next night which means someone isn’t going to get much sleep as it is a 10 hour ride up there. Their tour has been a seriously long one where they’ve played Europe and the States back to back. I remember they played in SF a couple of months ago which was part of the same tour! These guys are beasts and I can’t wait to hear what they come up with on their next album.

Words and Photos by Pat Chen
http://picasaweb.google.com/pat.chen
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Pat Chen is a photojournalist based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. He will be representing the SF music scene for us from time to time.

Links:

• Battles Website | Myspace
• Buy Battles Albums at Insound!