Mates of State bring their Crushes to Chicago

June 22, 2010, at Lincoln Hall

By Kelley Hecker
Published: June 29th, 2010 | 11:00am

The Mates of State show may have been for those aged 18 and up, but you wouldn’t have known it by being there. At the foot of the stage stood a little girl in a powder blue Mates of State shirt with her dad, staring wide-eyed as opener Geoff Akin showed off his impressive bubble skills.

Shortly after Akin began, a familiar blond walked near the dad and daughter with a mini-me in tow—it was none other than Mates' Kori Gardner and daughter Magnolia. The two little girls chatted before attentively watching the bubble magician—yes, there is such a thing—and never took their wide eyes off of the stunning display, which included tying the world record for the longest caterpillar bubble.

Akin’s performance exemplified what the Mates of State summer tour is all about: wholesome fun for people of all ages. The same could be said of the duo’s recently self-released Crushes (The Covers Mixtape). Gardner and husband Jason Hammel aren’t looking to blow any minds—they just wanted to have some fun recording covers of some of their favorite tracks and then hit the road during summer break with some of their friends. The friends included the always hilarious Todd Barry who, after asking if he was “the most famous person you’ve ever met,” had a lengthy discussion with an audience member about Haley Joel Osment trying to buy weed at a NYU party.

Accompanied by two additional musicians—one on guitar; the other on trumpet, tambourine, and keys—Mates of State hit the stage and immediately launched into “The Re-Arranger” off 2008’s Re-Arrange Us (Barsuk). Crushes’ “True Love Will Find You in the End,” originally by Daniel Johnston, sounded like a classic Mates track, as piano and Hammel’s fast-paced drumming pushed it along before Gardner added lazy strums on the ukulele.

The “oldies” the band generously sprinkled throughout the set were met with rapturous applause, particularly “Think Long,” where a clap-along broke out as they sang, “You never understood the difference / Between someone's beating and refusal to trade / Bless these tangled veins / Get on, or get out.”

At one point between songs, Hammel said, “You look like that girl from The Wonder Years,” to an older woman with a silver bob. “He has a crush on Winnie,” Gardner revealed, rolling her eyes, to which Hammel clarified that he meant the mom, not Winnie Cooper. (She totally did, though. It was all in the hair.)

The band debuted a new, upbeat song known at the moment as “Unicorns” that featured trumpet and Gardner feverishly playing the keys, hinting at another typically pleasing and poppy record on the way. That energy was dampened by their take on Death Cab for Cutie’s “Technicolor Girls,” a boring track that produced an equally boring cover. But the Mates quickly bounced back. During “Ha Ha,” off 2003’s Team Boo (Polyvinyl), one male audience member played air keyboard as he screamed, “This is the blood that we're made of / So tell it like a chronicle / Who's dancing all around? / Let's give it to me, give it to me now.”

During the encore, the band whipped out their cover of Belle & Sebastian’s wonderful “Sleep the Clock Around,” where the aforementioned little girl was impressively seen singing along, “If you put down your pen / Leave your worries behind / Then the moment will come / And the memory will shine.” Later, Hammel invited Barry to join the band on drums. He stuck around for the epic finale of fan-favorite “Goods (All in Your Head),” a performance that also featured openers Free Energy, with everyone clanging away on drums.

After the band exited the stage, the child and her dad stuck around, hoping to get a souvenir. She left with a setlist and drumstick, and a smile plastered on her face. If only we all could have had dads as cool as that.

Mates of State official Web site

Mates of State MySpace page

Barsuk Records