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| Wesley Eisold of Cold Cave. Image from the Brooklyn Vegan website. |
The show took place at one of Austin's established Red River District music venues, Red 7, to a near sold-out crowd. Douglas J. McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb fame served as the night's opener, playing selections from his first solo album Kill Your Friends (released in late 2012). Accompanied by Cyrus Rex on synthesizers and programming, McCarthy's solo work deviates from the post-industrial and EBM sound that Nitzer Ebb helped pioneer in the early 1980s, taking on a more synthpop and electronic feel that results in songs any dance club could play and get people to dance to. The crowd bopped around to the music as McCarthy sang each note with clear precision and danced manically on stage to tunes like "Evil Love" and "Move On." While McCarthy is a well respected musician for his work in Nitzer Ebb, his solo work does leave a little more to be desired, with programmed beats that sound similar across his songs and most songs featuring the same few lines of lyrics repeated throughout. As an opening act, McCarthy got the job done and kept the audience engaged.
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| Douglas McCarthy. Image from his artist page on Last.fm. |
Cold Cave took to the stage just shortly after 11:00pm. Over the years of different touring cycles, Cold Cave has endured several renditions, from full bands performing, to just Eisold (who is the sole consistent and contributing member to the project) and a person on keyboards. The night's lineup featured just Eisold on vocals and current girlfriend Amy Lee (not to be confused with the Amy Lee of Evanescence fame) on synthesizers.
The set began with catchy beats and interesting visuals on the screen behind Eisold and Lee, instantly lighting the crowd on fire. The second song of the night, "Confetti," was met with much dancing and singing along (a video someone took of the song is posted below). Roughly halfway through their third song, "God Made the World," the show took an interesting turn when technical issues popped up, causing the music to cutout and bringing the show to an abrupt halt. After a few minutes of Eisold, Lee, and a worker at Red 7 trying to resolve the issues (with Eisold trying to crack some light jokes into the mic for the crowd), the duo decided to give up on the visual aspect of their performance as that seemed to be the only way they could get the music to play again.
After the minor mishap, the show continued on with a strong performance from Eisold. Lee contributed backing vocals on several songs in addition to working the synthesizer that helped tie the songs together quite nicely. The crowd danced along and shouted out the lyrics as Cold Cave played several of their newer songs, including from 2011's Cherish the Light Years "Confetti," "Burning Sage," and "Icons of Summer." At one point, Eisold asked the crowd what they'd like to hear. Amid shouts for "Confetti" (which Eisold told the crowd had already been played and smiled lightly at everyone for perhaps missing that amid the technical issues earlier in the night) and "The Great Pan is Dead," Eisold selected a request for "Underworld USA" which ignited the crowd more so than they had been before (a video of "Underworld USA" and "Icons of Summer" that someone took at the show is posted below). After about an hour long set and a small encore, Cold Cave left the stage for the night.
On the whole, the show was great through and through. McCarthy gets the job done as an opening act, but there are moments when it feels like he's trying too hard to simply be himself. He's Douglas McCarthy - he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. True to form, he was spot on vocally and kept the crowd engaged, even if some of his dancing was more interpretive than anything else. And while technical issues forced Cold Cave to drop their visual effects, both Eisold and Lee do a sound job engaging the audience and performing with a raw emotion that left the audience simply wanting more. The visuals would have been a nice compliment (before they cut out on "God Made the World," the visuals would dim and brighten in rhythm with the synthesizer), their lack certainly didn't make the show less worthwhile.
Cold Cave wrap up their North America tour with Douglas McCarthy Friday night in Los Angeles at The Echoplex and are set to play two dates in Russia in November. Check out their recent 7" releases for "Oceans With No End," "God Made the World," and "Black Boots." A new album, tentatively titled Sunflower, is slated for release sometime next year.
Ratings:
Douglas McCarthy - 3 out of 5
Cold Cave - 4.5 out of 5
More Information: Official Site of Douglas McCarthy Official Site of Cold Cave
The set began with catchy beats and interesting visuals on the screen behind Eisold and Lee, instantly lighting the crowd on fire. The second song of the night, "Confetti," was met with much dancing and singing along (a video someone took of the song is posted below). Roughly halfway through their third song, "God Made the World," the show took an interesting turn when technical issues popped up, causing the music to cutout and bringing the show to an abrupt halt. After a few minutes of Eisold, Lee, and a worker at Red 7 trying to resolve the issues (with Eisold trying to crack some light jokes into the mic for the crowd), the duo decided to give up on the visual aspect of their performance as that seemed to be the only way they could get the music to play again.
After the minor mishap, the show continued on with a strong performance from Eisold. Lee contributed backing vocals on several songs in addition to working the synthesizer that helped tie the songs together quite nicely. The crowd danced along and shouted out the lyrics as Cold Cave played several of their newer songs, including from 2011's Cherish the Light Years "Confetti," "Burning Sage," and "Icons of Summer." At one point, Eisold asked the crowd what they'd like to hear. Amid shouts for "Confetti" (which Eisold told the crowd had already been played and smiled lightly at everyone for perhaps missing that amid the technical issues earlier in the night) and "The Great Pan is Dead," Eisold selected a request for "Underworld USA" which ignited the crowd more so than they had been before (a video of "Underworld USA" and "Icons of Summer" that someone took at the show is posted below). After about an hour long set and a small encore, Cold Cave left the stage for the night.
On the whole, the show was great through and through. McCarthy gets the job done as an opening act, but there are moments when it feels like he's trying too hard to simply be himself. He's Douglas McCarthy - he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. True to form, he was spot on vocally and kept the crowd engaged, even if some of his dancing was more interpretive than anything else. And while technical issues forced Cold Cave to drop their visual effects, both Eisold and Lee do a sound job engaging the audience and performing with a raw emotion that left the audience simply wanting more. The visuals would have been a nice compliment (before they cut out on "God Made the World," the visuals would dim and brighten in rhythm with the synthesizer), their lack certainly didn't make the show less worthwhile.
Cold Cave wrap up their North America tour with Douglas McCarthy Friday night in Los Angeles at The Echoplex and are set to play two dates in Russia in November. Check out their recent 7" releases for "Oceans With No End," "God Made the World," and "Black Boots." A new album, tentatively titled Sunflower, is slated for release sometime next year.
Ratings:
Douglas McCarthy - 3 out of 5
Cold Cave - 4.5 out of 5
More Information: Official Site of Douglas McCarthy Official Site of Cold Cave
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