ANR Tour feat We Barbarians – REVIEW

On their first co-headlining tour, ANR and We Babarians, performed at The Empty Bottle in Chicago. You can check out our review after the break.

Late night midweek tours are always a tough draw, especially for up and coming bands.  Unfortunately only about 30 people showed up to Empty Bottle to support two promising bands out on their first co-headlining tours.

ANR, also known as Awesome New Republic have a wide array of influences in their music.  You can hear bits and pieces of bands and artists as diverse as Red Hot Chili Peppers, MGMT and Prince.  Some of the songs had drumming that you would expect from The Roots.  Another good way to get a handle of their sound is who they have toured with, and it is quite an impressive list including Neon Indian, Animal Collective and Yeasayer.

ANR have a multitude of releases out, and are touring off of their most recent album, Stay Kids.  The band consists of only two members, but thanks to the wonders of technology, manages to have a wide ranging sound, due to the excellent use of keys.  Set opener Don’t Fear The Get Out turned the meager crowd’s collective heads.  Heavily reverbed vocals and a great drum beat really drew the crowd in.  Other highlights included what was described by the band as a “fun song,” Big Problem as well as set closer It’s Around You.  With a super catchy keyboard running through the song, along with a repeated, “Oh, oh,” chorus, one could not disagree with the description.  It’s Around You sounded like a cover, but not in a bad way.  A mix of funk and hip hop, it seemingly could have been a collaboration between old school artists, with the added flair of modern sounding electronics.

Opener We Barbarians stole the show.  Originally from California, but currently residing in Brooklyn, their straight forward approach to rock is refreshing, and you can definitely hear some of the west coast influence in their music.  Despite being just a three piece band, We Barbarians create a very full sound.  The interplay between bass and drums is definitely a highlight, along with singer Dave Quon’s unique voice.  The band has been through Chicago a lot, touring with fellow Californians Cold War Kids, and most recently a stop at Schuba’s with up and comers Foster The People.

With their new EP Headspace released just over a week ago, most of the crowd was not familiar with a majority of the music, but the energy and excellent musicianship won them over.  Highlights from the set included their more straightforward take on the Brian Eno/David Byrne collaboration Strange Overtones.  The experimental, electronic nature of the Eno/Byrne original never sat right with me, and I really feel like this version lets the listener focus more on the great lyrics of the song.  Chambray , also from the new EP, featured a great drum intro, leading to a beautiful chiming guitar and heartfelt lyrics.  Set closer There’s This There’s That, from the excellent album of the same name, was played as a request, and it was nice to see some fan participation in the show.  The recurrent guitar riff is simple, yet super catchy.

If the chance to see either of these bands arises, I urge you to catch them.  There is no reason that they should be playing in front of such sparse crowds.  Please go support great new music.

Information about the review…
Tour: ANR Tour featuring We Barbarians
Bands: ANR and We Barbarians
Venue: The Empty Bottle in Chicago, IL
Date: September 7, 2011