Concert Review: Film School - 10/25/07 @ Mercury Lounge (New York, NY)

Last summer I heard a rumor that Film School had broken up. This was disappointing news as I had just seen them at SXSW and really was beginning to love them. Turns out the band was just on hiatus, or maybe they came back to their senses and realized they couldn't just quit like that. What kind of happy ending would that be for a band called Film School?

Last night I went to see them at Mercury Lounge, and really enjoyed their heavy, dark, shoegazy set. Lead singer Greg Berten's vocals range from soft, dreamy coos to sensitive-guy mutters. And just as you're reaching a sleepy, meditative state, the band will launch into loud, guitar jams to shake you up. Their psychedelic music makes you want to thrash your hair around until you get dizzy from excitement. Film School just released their album, Hideout, on Beggars in September. They added a long blonde named Lorelei on bass who also adds whispery female vocals to the songs.

Montreal band Land of Talk opened for them, and it was my first time seeing them. I had heard a lot about this band, and ended up liking them. The lead singer Elizabeth Powell is a real charmer with her Bettie Seveert vocals. Her voice had real emotion and spirit, so the songs felt very intimate. I felt like the music could have been punched up a bit to reflect and enhance the softness of her vocals more, but overall I liked what I heard.

I caught a bit of another Canadian band called The Small Sins who had an overly excited keyboard player who liked to pound the tambourine on his chest. I liked the lead singer's vocals though, and there was one lyric that stuck with me -- "You can stay over but you can't sleep in my bed." Brilliant.

Check out the rest of the Film School tour dates:
10/26 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells
10/28 Cleveland, OH - Beachland
10/29 Toronto, ONT - El Mocambo
10/30 Pontiac, MI - Pike Room
10/31 Chicago, IL - Schubas
11/01 Chicago, IL - Schubas
11/03 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
11/05 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
11/08 San Diego, CA - Beauty Bar
11/15 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex

Comments

[brian]

I went to see their show earlier in the week and they killed it!

[the dude]

lorelei is hot.