Here is our latest report from Jeremy Frazier. To read his interview with Papadosio, stop by Chicagojamscene.com
Beginning a fall tour after a summer like this has got to be an amazing feeling. In 2010, Papadosio became a legitimate force in the Midwest jam circuit. They headlined multiple small festivals (Muncie Springfest, Rootwire, Wuhnurth) and played at many, many others around the country. This summer was undoubtedly the most successful in Papadosio’s life as a band. So when I had the opportunity to see two shows in very different settings in the span of 10 days, I jumped all over it. Having followed the band closely for a about a year now, I have gained insight into where they currently are as a band and where they came from. I saw this as an opportunity to examine how their energy & approach differs when playing a small venue show then moving on to a headlining slot at an outdoor festival. The first show took place at Martyr’s in Chicago and ten days later they played the Friday night twilight set at Wuhnurth Music Festival.
Lighting engineer Daniel Hiudt brought the goods to Martyr’s.
A quick, northbound ride on the CTA Brown Line to Irving Park dropped me off only three blocks from Martyr’s at around 7:00. The night began a bit earlier than usual on this September’s Wednesday as I had scheduled a sit-down interview with Papadosio to take place immediately following their soundcheck. The interview went down in interesting & efficient fashion, further focusing my gaze into the musical mind of this band. I left the band to their business in the green room and settled onto a barstool near the stage for a few moments. The first thing I noticed was the stout light display that they had brought with them. Many shows at Martyr’s had come and passed with only the house lights and I was glad tonight wasn’t one of them.
Anthony Thogmartin could shred his way out of a lead room with this guitar
By the time 10:00 rolled around, I was ready to shred. Unfortunately, the turnout wasn’t as robust as I had hoped and only about 50 people were as ready as I was. Papadosio hit the ground running with a song I had been jonesing to witness live, “By The Light Of The Stars.” This is the title track from their only 2008 release (a four-song EP filled with electricity) and in hindsight feels like a logical way to start this tour of their catalog. “Hippie Babysitter” was the next song out of the chute. This tune had a light & dreamy energy until Anthony Thogmartin stepped up with a fiery guitar jam. It felt like time dilated as Thogmartin pushed this song past its usual length and level of intensity. Jams like this one really illuminate the chemistry of this band by putting Rob McConnell (bass) and Mike Healy (drumkit) to the Tightness Test. As the guitarist winds a little past the script, most bands would open the jam up a little bit to let it breathe. But Papadosio keeps these jams really tight, with McConnell seeming to increase the complexity of his basslines and Healy stepping on the gas as well. Billy Brouse (keys/synths) and Thogmartin have a linkage of their own, which really elevates the possibilities of any jam section. They can take turns bringing an equally powerful sound, or come together and harmonize the lightning. This dichotomy was put on display in “Frequence,” an unreleased song that feels so much like recent Papadosio I could have sworn it was on Observations. The guitar & synthesizer harmonizing was incredible in the front part of this song, but as it went on the individual influence of each member shone through. It wound through a chilled, reggae-infused section before McConnell broke into a high-powered bass sprint with Thogmartin shredding like wildfire to end the song. This one stuck with me.
Mike Healy is a machine behind the drumkit
Earlier in the evening, Anthony had explained to me how he liked to construct their setlist so that they ramp up the energy over the duration of the show. They never stop climbing until they hit the highest peak. Always building towards a grand finale. So I was a little surprised that the show had already been as loud & captivating as it had been. But when they busted out more of their aggressive & intense songs, a run of “Improbability Blotter” into “Night Colors,” I knew it was only going to get crazier. You see, they have a growing number of songs (including the two recently mentioned) that feel like giant musical monsters to me— like some sort of violent alien creature that just scares everyone into dancing their ass off. “Blotter” brought a downpour of keys from Thogmartin and a bass & synth groove so ridiculously heavy that it made me feel G-forces. “Colors” is simply a mind-numbingly intense song that feels like could be an encore song for every show. Not long after that, they unleashed a tune that has become a sneaky fan favorite. Thanks to its incredibly catchy lyrics, “Unparalyzer” brought a little bit lighter energy than the previous duo of songs but kept the crowd shredding every bit equally. This is definitely some of Brouse’s best work on the synthesizer, his energy especially broke through and his snappy playing put a serious hop in my step.
Billy Brouse will tantalize her with his synthesizer
After seeing Papadosio a number of times in the past year, I have come to expect that they will leave the stage swinging. They always seem to bring a 99 mph fastball at eyelevel to wrap the set and they obviously didn’t disappoint on this night. There are a few songs I can think of that would perfectly end one of their sets, and “The Eyes Have Eyes” is one of them. As soon as those gravity-shattering opening notes came to life, my face twisted into a distorted display of amazement & bewilderment. Like when you know what you’re hearing is real, but it just doesn’t sound possible. This song is aggressive in all the right ways and perfectly embodies the ‘danceably scary’ vibe of the violent end of Papadosio’s range. An extended jam section brought out rows upon rows of razor sharp musical teeth that rendered the crowd incapable of stillness. Luckily there was some room in the crowd because there were some people absolutely thrashing. I try not to get that loose anymore out of fear of tearing the lens off my camera body, but I was pushed snugly against my boundary by this final song. This was easily one of the tightest and most carefully crafted setlists I have seen from Papadosio and they executed it with the force of a natural disaster. Needless to say, I was beyond excited to see what they would bring for the festival set.
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