Gang of Four + Hollerado - Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR; Feb. 17, 2011)

Good fans of every concert audience: if you’re planning on crowd surfing when you get to the show, could you please, pretty please, NOT wear boots? My head asks you this nicely. Because directly after it got kicked last night, toward the end of Gang of Four‘s impressive showing at Wonder Ballroom, all I could do was scream, “What the hell do you have on your feet?  Are those really boots?!”

The female wearing said appendages obviously didn’t hear me, as she was busy gleefully surfing along to the dance-punk beats of Europe’s Gang of Four. The quad was playing one helluva show and it was, to be completely honest, awesomely shocking me. I’ve always known a handful of the group’s songs, but had no idea they were capable of putting on a performance such as the one they just had.

Their openers were the all-around fabulous Hollerado, who I had seen open for Free Energy a few months before, at Doug Fir. This Canadian foursome have obviously seen quite a bit of road or practice time, since, because their capabilities and sound seemed to have increased ten times over. They opened their set by announcing it was their birthday, and the exuberance that seemed to emanate off them for the rest of the show only dictated it was true.

Starting off with the solemn intro of “What’s Everybody Running For (Part II)” left the unsure audience casting a questioning look at the group, obviously with wonder on what they were about to be exposed to (and why Gang of Four had brought them on tour). As soon as the song opened up, and lead singer Menno Versteeg started chirping, “How far to the town where a bar can be found?” the crowd immediately started laughing along, and bodies quickly began to bop.

Next up was “Juliette,” definitely one of their funnest songs, which they began by shouting, “Happy birthday to us!” Directly after a vicious drum solo, Vergsteeg and the rest of the band simultaneously spit water “because it’s our birthday!” Not long after, the crowd got blasted by a shot of confetti from the stage, prompting party time to be in full force. Vergsteen’s personality was even better than I’d seen before, and he was chock full of fantastic stories, just as he’d been at their November show.  Easily the best was his tale of crossing the border the day before, where the group was asked to step out of their tour mobile and follow an unsmiling guard. Thankfully, it was just so he could get them out of sight from the nearest video camera and tell them how rad it was they were touring with Gang of Four. The guard even bought two of their vinyls, for $15, which Vergsteen quickly offered up to anyone who had any weed for them after the show.

Confetti shot out again during the group’s excellent single “Americanarama,” a pop rock song which makes one wonder why so many of the group’s tunes feature a lyric or title that references the States. Considering how happy they seem whenever they’re here, and all the disapproval they speak of their hometown of Manotick, ON, it seems that they love our country. Fine with me, especially if it keeps them coming back for more. These guys are seriously packed with fun, know how to put on a cleanly played and spastically enjoyed kind of set, and showcase some stupendous stagework while they’re up there. Definitely check ‘em out next time they’re back in the Northwest.

Hollerado’s cheery and rock ‘n’ roll attitude left me curious as to how Gang of Four could compete. Sure, the quartet had blasted to post-punk fame in the late ‘70s with their off-brand of whimsical, polemical ways, but that was also almost 40 years ago. What could the two original bandmates, singer Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill, bring to the stage to match up with the Canadian foursome?

Well, everything. From the strangely electronic chants that foreshadowed their arrival to the guitar smashing midway through to the writhe and hilarious dance moves King constantly pulled off, Gang of Four brought seemingly every last thing they had in their repertoire, and it never included a second of boredom.

Gill strutted onstage with the face that would last him 99 percent of the show - a pouting set of lips centered him, a look that one nearby fan said, “really needed lipstick.” He commanded the audience every ten seconds or so by boldly taking steps to the outer edge of the stage and peering out over the fans with that sneering face. Really, the only thing that could take your eyes off Gill was King and his mostly absurd, yet mesmerizing, dance moves throughout the night. Wearing a sloppy, long-sleeved shirt that looked like it had once been a blazer, King thrust himself all over the place, frequently reducing himself to his knees and pointing at us fans at the front of the stage.

Gang of Four’s first song ­­­played was “Never Pay For the Farm,” the first single off Content, their first album of new releases in fifteen years. It was amazing, really, that it was just as raw and rugged as any of their older songs. My trust in the group was instantly gained, and even more so when the second tune was the epic (and still entirely necessary, both socially and politically) “Not Great Men,” to which the crowd went rightfully ballistic. King, Gill and bassist Thomas McNeice were also livid with movement throughout the entire set, and both of its encores - it’s tough to say who moved more, but it’s likely it really was the 55-year-old King. Well played, sir. Things also got extremely interesting when Gill started sticking his tongue to his amp cord and making noises while doing it. It wasn’t long before he appeared to not care for the guitar anymore, and so began smashing it to pieces in the middle of the stage, handing snags of it to lucky fans after the charade was over.

But the entire spectacle that was Gang of Four’s set was far from over. The band continued to play from a wide variety of albums, but focused mostly on Entertainment!. This definitely included the first and second encore, which brought forth really badass versions of “Return the Gift” and “Damaged Goods,” the former of which closed the show. It left me truly stunned, even if it was just a bit due to the diligent mosh pit and head knocking that went down toward the end, but mostly in that those dudes rocked the hell out of the Wonder, and their Hollerado openers had pulled off yet another magnificent showing. Hell yeah to your varying brands of dance rock, gentlemen. Way to make a Thursday night in Portland entertaining in all the right ways.

DOWNLOAD: Gang of Four - Natural's Not In It (MP3) or Follow us for more Gang of Four MP3s (Twitter)

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