The Polyphonic Spree liven up Cat's Cradle

You can't say The Polyphonic Spree don't know how to open a show.

The 22-person group opened their show at Cat's Cradle Tuesday night in a particularly grand fashion. After raising a makeshift red curtain to block view of the stage during setup, frontman Tim DeLaughter made his first appearance to the audience by cutting a heart-shaped hole in the center of the "curtain"

The show was truly great from start to finish, though I’ll admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as my last Spree show, which I enjoyed from right near the stage. This time I avoided the crush and stood by the sound board and I must admit there’s something to be said for standing in the middle of a crowd as they go absolutely crazy, singing, dancing and flailing around.

A Polyphonic Spree show definitely qualifies not as a show but as a “concert experience,” with confetti cannons being shot off at random and a literal army of people on stage.

Songs like “Hanging Around the Day” and “Soldier Girl” truly came alive on stage, though I think the highlight of the evening (for me at least) was the band’s cover of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die.”

“We all reminisce,” DeLaughter said following the song. “Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s downright scary.”

I’m guessing that when the Spree reminisce, it’s almost always good.

But The Polyphonic Spree wasn’t the only great band that evening. In a rare moment of concert greatness, I was actually looking forward to all three bands on the bill that night, and they didn’t disappoint.

The Redwalls opened the show with a bang with their late-60s inspired rock and roll. The group played a short set mainly containing material from their new album that seemed to make a fan of everyone in the room.

Fronted by brothers Logan and Justin Baren, The Redwalls combine the best of Brit pop and good old fashioned rock ‘n roll grit. It’s no wonder Liam Gallagher once said they’re the only new band he likes.

Rooney, in their second Cat's Cradle appearance since July, made all the girls scream with their poppy love songs and California hipster vibe.

Frontman Robert Schwartzman (full name Robert Coppola Schwartzman, and yes he’s related to all the people you think he is) definitely knows how to play to the group’s fan base, asking the crowd “How many of you are in school?” (about half the audience raised their hands) getting the audience to clap and sing along and making sure to tell them the names of all their songs.

Rooney seemed to have developed a, uh, playful relationship with the band and crew for Polyphonic Spree. About two-thirds through Rooney’s set, a crew member for the Spree approached the sound board and asked the engineer “So should I cook his ass with the spotlight for a while?” Schwartzman may have squinted a bit for the following three songs, but at least we could see him a little better!

Set Lists

The Polyphonic Spree

Section 22: Running Away
Hanging Around the Day
Section 23: Get Up and Go
It's the Sun
Section 12: Hold Me Now
Section 30: Watch Us Explode (Justify)
Live and Let Die
Section 29: Light to Follow
Section 24: The Fragile Army
Section 26: We Crawl
Section 32: The Championship
Encore:
Lithium
When the Fool Becomes a King
Soldier Girl

The Redwalls

Hangman
Love Her
Put Us Down
Game of Love
They are Among Us
Falling
Build a Bridge
Been Done Before

Rooney
Blueside
Don't Come Around Again
Calling The World
Daisy Duke
Believe In Me
Tell me Soon
I'm a Terrible Person
Runaway (Del Shannon cover)
Are You Afraid of Me
I Should've Been After You
Our Love
All In Your Head
Shakin'
When Did Your Heart Go Missing

[all photos by Kevin Norris]