Smith Westerns Lose Direction At The Echo, 2/11/11
Photo by Ryan Torok for LAist
By Ryan Torok/Special to LAist
The sold-out Smith Westerns show at The Echo on February 11 was, like their recent album Dye it Blonde, filled with awesome, George Harrison-inspired riffage. Unfortunately, that's where the awesome stopped.
The young Chicago foursome’s 45-minute set was just short of tragic: the drums were too loud, the keyboard didn’t contribute anything, and lead singer Cullen Omori’s vocals were drowned out under the noisy playing of his band mates.
The band failed to find the hooks and high moments throughout the show from set opener “Still New” off the recent album, to other new tracks like “Imagine, Pt. 3” and “Weekend” and even on older tracks which presumably the band has plenty of experience playing live.
Unlike the vintage-sounding, messy guitars of their studio offerings, the show on Friday was simply messy. Maybe the guys were tired. They're currently in the middle of their first headlining tour playing nearly every night and traveling all over the country. Isn’t that part of becoming an indie rock sensation?
Winning reviews in publications from Pitchfork to Rolling Stone for their January release of Dye it Blonde perhaps only served to increase the disappointment of the underwhelming show. It wasn’t a total loss, however. The live version of “Smile,” the best song off Dye it Blonde reminiscent of Beach House in its dream-poppiness, gave Max Kakacek a chance to showcase a beautiful solo.
Still, it's fun to watch a band in the middle of their big moment. Omari remarked early on in the set that when they played The Echo a year ago “like 20 people” were in attendance. This time around, there were a lot more than that.