The Dandy Warhols + Darker My Love + The Upsidedown - Wilbur Theatre (Boston, MA; Sept. 16, 2008)

Not a bad Tuesday night. We were looking forward to The Dandy Warhols / Darker My Love concert at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, partly for the music, and partly because it was our first time seeing a show in the historic, newly reopened Wilbur. Most other Boston venues, while coming through with excellent sound, provide just enough light to make you feel like you’re in a cave. As a photographer and concert-goer who enjoys seeing bands when they perform, this is less than ideal. “Maybe,” we hoped, “the Wilbur will have adequate lighting actually focused on the bands rather than the walls and the audience.” I guess we’ll keep waiting.

Opening the show was The Upsidedown, a solid six-some playing upbeat, fun stuff. Performing to an unfortunately and undeservedly lightly populated theater, The Upsidedown nonetheless impressed with a nonstop collection of catchy, guitar-heavy rock, accented with deep and grooving bass rhythms and, um, grooves. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, they’re in for the tour, and are well worth getting to the venue early for. So you should do just that.

Darker My Love mounted up next. Unfortunately, the lighting designer must have thought the name was “Darken My Light,” considering we could barely make out faces. The projections didn’t help much either. While fun in theory, the old-school overhead projector exhibiting petri dish solutions of water and oil seriously dampened the already sparse light, and cast a muddled blanket over the set. As compared to the silhouette show from Feist’s tour this past summer, it wasn’t nearly as compelling.

Setting aside the visual aesthetic complaints, Darker My Love play good music. Really good, actually. They have a sly, sustained sound, sometimes seeming drone-ish but darkly persistent. Close harmonies drew me right in, and maybe the dark atmosphere helped to keep us pleasantly on edge, waiting and expecting something to happen at any moment. Strangely enough, they also have a weirdly U2 sound to them (in the Achtung Baby - Zooropa period), though in a more mildly poppy, alt-indie vein. Parse that!

Here’s what I don’t get about the Dandy Warhols: are they really serious? I’ve always assumed that they play their cotton candy hits with tongues firmly lodged in cheeks. But now I’m not so sure. Talking it over with friends on Wednesday night, I learned that I wasn’t alone in this assumption; having seen them live, however, now I believe that they may be wholly unironic. Not that there’s anything wrong with simply enjoying popularity and writing reasonably straightforward, accessible music that is widely enjoyed across at least 1.5 generations. I’m just a little surprised.

The Dandys had great presence and a well polished stage affect and tone that serve them mightily. They’re easy to watch, easy to listen to, and easy to enjoy.

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