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Alabama Shakes & The Lawrence Peters Outfit at The Hideout - Chicago - December 15th, 2011
Ho-ly shit. The venue, the opening band, the headlining band, and a little Mexican guy selling home-made tamales out of a cute little blue cooler made this a memorable fucking night.
In all honesty, on a scale of 1-10 my excitement was at a 5 driving to The Hideout on Thursday night. I love the Alabama Shakes, but I had a lot of shit to do on Friday and I was sleep deprived because my 2 month old enjoys torturing us at night. Plus, Joel was talking my face off about his new MacBook and why he already needs to replace his sticky keyboard. TMI Joel, Tee ehM eye.
I’ve never been to The Hideout and was a little scared as we pulled up. You need to know that this venue is in a seemingly shady ass area. We were in the middle of a dark industrial yard; a place where unionized city workers might go to get handsies from midgets in the cab of their garbage trucks. Fortunately, the inside of The Hideout was warm and inviting with their cute little hand-made snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. They also boasted an impressive beer list that helped take my mind of the countless sex crimes being potentially committed outside.
The Lawrence Peters Outfit was the opening country band who transported us to Nashville before our main stop in Alabama. I had no intentions of writing about the opening band, but these guys kicked ass. This is the type of country music I like; it is not that formulaic pop shit that is monopolizing FM radio. The front man Lawrence Peters croons and delicately brushes the snare while the rest of the band, complete with a stand up bass, lead and rhythm guitar, melts your face off with twang. The lead guitar player was fucking incredible. He rocks a black Telecaster and uses nothing but a small fender amp to get a perfect tone that makes my fucking knees weak. By the end of the set, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor and dry my drool soaked shirt under the hand drier in the bathroom. Check these fucking guys out NOW!
I was feeling good with a small buzz from some excellent craft beers by the time Alabama Shakes took the stage. From the beginning of the very first song, lead singer Brittany Howard OWNS you, the stage, the crowd, and probably the bar backs in the bar room.
You are at her mercy.
She was able to transform me into the person I hate at concerts: 'the wooer'. I couldn't control it; I had wooing turrets and I needed to punch myself. A ‘you go girl’ might have even slipped out. What the Fuck was wrong with me?!
The rest of the band just hangs back and let’s Brittany do her thing, and why not? I don’t even think Mick Jagger would want to compete with that on stage presence. None the less, they are excellent musicians who contribute to the building of knockout musical punches that leave you floored. There were no down moments in the set and no ego-driven, incomprehensible lead singer chat. Song after song my attention was drawn to the stage; I don’t think I blinked my eyes more than 3 times. The songs are outstanding in a recorded format, but exponentially better live.
While chatting with some strangers after the show one guy wondered if we’ll ever be able to see Alabama Shakes in a venue this small again. Selfishly, I hope that I’ll be wooing my face off at The Hideout next year, but this band is bound to blow up. You need to catch them live before they are inaccessible, travel with entourages, and are able to dodge your un-welcomed hugs. (Syffal makes no excuses for our hugging. JOEL!)
This was one of those special concerts you find yourself daydreaming about on the following day. You unknowingly stare into space with a stupid grin on your face and creep out your co-workers.
Joel's Note: This was by far the best fucking show I've seen at The Hideout EVER. I've been to over a dozen shows, and played there twice, and I've never felt that type of energy in that cozy home before. Lawrence Peters Outfit, and Matt his fucking guitar player, are my new favorite addiction. The album they handed me before we had tamales hasn't left my compact disc playerz. Expect a review soon. And an interview. And whatever else they need from Syffal. I AM fucking GAY FOR LPO.
As for Alabama Shakes, I cried three times during their set. Unfuckingbelieveable. I love the fucking feces out of these hick pricks. Quite possibly the best huggers I've ever encountered who aren't even fucking aware how fucking amazing they really are.
The EP is good, but they are the best live band I've seen in all 2011. I LOVE THOSE muthafuckerS.
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