Antemasque, Le Butcherettes Fitzgerald's August 4th, 2014
It's amazing how quickly things can change for the better. Consider the relationship between Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. These are two guys who were musically attached at the hip for something like 17 years who suddenly found themselves not even on speaking terms last year.
Yet, here they are a little over a year later with a new band and new songs, looking like they're having the time of their life onstage.
Yes, yes, everyone knows about At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta and all the classic music they've put out, but Monday night wasn't about the past or the future. It was about Antemasque and the present.
The present is pretty freaking rocking.
This show did not have an ounce of fat. Le Butcherettes took the stage at 8 p.m. and were done by 8:45. Antemasque took the stage at 9 and were done by 10. In-Concert-Out, if you will. There were no fancy light rigs, not even a stage banner with a name. A very straightforward night that let the music do the talking.
It can be hard to wrap your head around Le Butcherettes. Teri Gender Bender has a charisma unlike anyone else in music. She has the ability to go from looking incredibly happy to scarily intense so fast you feel like your brain is lagging. Her stage movements are highly theatrical, but in a way that doesn't feel rehearsed. She moves like someone possessed by the music rather than by someone creating it.
Drummer Lia Braswell is a monster behind the kit, somehow making things look chaotic while being rock-solid with the beat. Le Butcherettes have taken what was already a strong act and made it better over the past few years. It's rare to see a band so completely locked in while at the same time looking like things could collapse at any moment if the music moves them in that direction. The crowd may have been perplexed at first, but by the time they got around to playing "The Leibniz Language," everyone seemed to be on board.
They remain one of the best live bands of the modern era, which meant that Antemasque were not making it easy on themselves.
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