Blonde Redhead provokes babymakin’ in San Francisco

July 14, 2009, at the Independent

By Jolene Torr
Published: July 18th, 2009 | 3:20am

Blonde Redhead has got to be one of the sexiest bands ever. On a recent stop at the Independent in San Francisco, the chemistry between Kazu and Amedeo was mesmerizing while the set list perfectly mimicked lovemaking as Blonde Redhead started sleepy and faraway before they fully connected with the crowd and ended in a post-orgasmic afterglow.

They were playing only two shows exclusively for San Francisco’s Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) and this event felt particularly special. Supporters of the BFF for years, Blonde Redhead seemed a perfect fit as they wilfully celebrated the urban bike movement with other enthusiasts.

Like a plotted seduction, the trio opened with “Heroine” off 2007’s release, 23 (4AD). The lustrous orchestration was executed as expected: flawlessly, lovely, and (sadly) flinchingly over-produced. While they sampled from their own instrumentation, the band was a bit disenchanting. Although one would have anticipated live manual percussion looping, back-up vocals, and a cranking washboard sound — instead the track was heavily pre-recorded. For the first few songs, Blonde Redhead kept the same poppy tempo with Kazu at the keys, veiled beneath her conductor’s hat. Her low-key presence was at first cold and distant, but then again, a little mystery is appealing.

This isn’t to say that Amedeo’s bleating utterances on “Messenger” were not heart-wrenching. Accompanied by Simone’s slow and pulsing beat, the song convinced the crowd of the same dreamy romance that “Misery Is a Butterfly” implores: that this is most definitely a love story between him and that sexy Kazu.

As they alternated between records 23 and Misery Is A Butterfly (4AD) for the first few songs, the trio definitely won over the crowd’s affections with tales of love struck vulnerability and tender lust, but they left everyone wanting more. That is, until Kazu picked up the guitar and the crowd woke the fuck up. Abstract and ambient whistling whirred before the recognizably warbled guitar kicked in, and the crowd responded deliriously thrilled. “In Particular” really got Kazu swerving. She broke into dance with her swingy two-step and finally, the band opened up and let it out before they stopped suddenly with restraint and the song was reduced to intense clockwork percussion. Oh, Simone, Simone, the metronome. Amedeo crept back in with the guitar, simply heavy and loud, before Kazu delivered her kitten yells and halted chirps.

From here on out, the show was loud, rocky, and fucking hot. The heaviest song off 23 followed — “Spring and By Summer Fall” which let Amedeo sing and sway from his fixed spot on stage. Majorly resonant, his demanding lyrics echoed a story of desperation, a story by the lovelorn and the longing ones.

As Amedeo and Kazu slinked and inched towards one another and then fled shyly back to their spots, it was easy to relate this to the push and pull of any deep relationship. She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. I love her more. When she pulled her hair down while singing the title track off 23, hearts were racing before realizing: the anticipation is all a part of it.

A new song from the album-in-progress ventured into something dark and moody: a threatening story of lovers on the run. Kazu screeched. She stomped. She shimmied towards Amedeo. And she fucking really used her voice.

At first, like any love story, the songs were off to a sleepy start — lovesick and vacant before they tipped over to the wistful and the dreamy, the hypnotic and compulsive. In the end, Blonde Redhead brought the crowd to its knees: eager like a pulse racing through the skin.

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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page

Blonde Redhead official site

Blonde Redhead MySpace page

4AD Records