The Wilbur Theatre is located in the Theatre District in Downtown Boston, a block away from the Boston Commons. It's very glitzy on the inside; the carpeted floors and regal looking balcony and mezzanine would better house a traveling production of Annie Get Your Gun than a rock concert. But then, The Dandy Warhols, they came to town, and they transformed it from playhouse to rockhouse (or Monkeyhouse, if you wish to insert the word from their 2003 album, Welcome to the Monkeyhouse). And although, the soundsystem was very lack with only a row of speakers on each side of the stage, the Warhols seemed to make due for their two hour set.
Spanning almot their entire career, save for anything off of their 1995 debut, Dandys Rule OK?, the quartet surprised me when five songs in they performed "The Beast Of All Saints" from this year's magnum opus, ...Earth To The Dandy Warhols... T'was an interesting choice for a slowed up sonic rocker so early in the set, but people would soon get what they wanted. Gears were shifted quickly, though, as die hard fans and those only familiar with their larger hits were then treated to a one-two punch of "Bohemian Like You" and "Get Off" from 2000's breakthrough Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia. Head Warhol Courtney Taylor-Taylor had then taken a moment to greet the crowd, once again commenting on the lack of speakers, saying their sound man had said it would be a great place for banjos. "Love Song" would be played later, but without Taylor squared's diatribe about how Steve Martin wouldn't playng the twangy instrument, leaving them with Mike Campbell and Mark Knopfler instead.
It was halfway through when the funniest moment (at least to me, standing up in the front) had occured. Key bassist, keyboardist, and sexiest Warhol since 1994 Zia McCabe stepped off stage for a moment along with drummer Bret DeBoer while guitarist Pete Holmstrom held that sustained note that begins "Godless". And right when the song should've launched in, from sustained notes to guitar strums and tambourines, DeBoer was still missing, and a few chuckles came from the crowd and the band as the one known as Fathead, now complete with handlebar mustache, returned to the stage.
When the heavy rocking, seizure-inducing-from-strobe-lights-strobing "Wasp In The Lotus" was played, it was a fury. Heavy guitar licks melted and mixed perfectly with the harmonies of singing cousins DeBoer and Taylor-Taylor. And when they played that song, the one that made me the fan that I am and one they apparently 'had not played in a really long time' noted Taylor-Taylor ("Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth"), I just had a moment. McCabe and I made eye contact and she just smiled at me as I snapped a picture of her. They would then launch in to "Boys Better" before the we-don't-leave-the-stage encore of "Country Leaver" that was just the come down for the night. After two hours, the band was done and they left the stage, and we were left with memories.
As I left and headed back out in to the theatre district, I ran in to the band as they were talking to other fans. DeBoer talking about the sound, Taylor-Taylor snapping photos with fans, checking their cameras to make sure they were good enough to have, or he would just have to pose again. I ran in to Zia, and she declared "I smiled at you, yes! You just seemed so familiar. Had a good time?" Good time, I believe, was an understatement.
Set List: Mohammed / We Used To Be Friends / Welcome To The Third World / Mission Control / The Beast Of All Saints / You Were The Last High / All The Money or The Simple Life Honey / Bohemian Like You / Get Off / Love Song / Godless / The New Country / And Them I Dreamt Of Yes / You Come In Burned / Good Morning / Now You Love Me / Wasp In The Lotus / The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers / Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth / Pete International Airport>Boys Better / Country Leaver
Read my interview with Zia McCabe here.
Download: "The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers" [mp3] // [Buy Here]
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