Indie vets shake The Biltmore to its core

Superchunk are back and better than ever

 

Superchunk

By Cody Klyne, Arts Editor

he night started off with a beer
in a bar that looked like a bingo

hall.

An hour later, standing outside The

Biltmore fighting the cold with idle
chatter, we sat watching as we were
fed snapshots of the night ahead of us
through the crack of the open door.
The doorman came out and set up his
perimeter, marked by metal poles and
nylon bands, and asked us, the three
of us, the only ones waiting “in line”,
to kindly step back. Our line of three
complied; 30 minutes pass and we’re
the first to be let in.

Sitting in our red velvet booth,
marinating our anticipation in Pabst
Blue Ribbon after lightening our
wallets at the merchandise table, we

cautiously prepped for the opening act,

Telekinesis. It’s an unfortunate truth

that, regardless the venue, the main
act, or your blood-alcohol level, not
knowing the opener can be described,
at the best of times, as a hit or miss
affair. Thankfully for us, Telekinesis
wound end up being the exception to
the assumption. They kicked the night
off right.

An indie pop three-piece when on
tour—though ultimately the brainchild
of Seattle’s Michael Benjamin
Lerner—Telekinesis handily coaxed
the crowd from their cozy booths and
bar stools and onto the floor. With
head-bobbing Lerner on drums and
lead vocals, it turned out to be the
kind of set that, excuse the pun, struck
a chord with the crowd. Quick to
get a body moving and feeling right;
dancing, foot-tapping, or swaying
along to the music as the case may be.
Bouncing from full ensemble to multi-
instrumentalist, Lerner taking to the

 

stage solo with nothing more than an
acoustic guitar and back, Telekinesis
was the surprise perfect appetizer to
the night’s main course: Superchunk.
Having released their first full-
length studio album in over nine
years this past September, Majesty
Shredding , Superchunk took to stage
and the crowd erupted. Led by Mac
McCaughan on guitar and vocals and
Laura Ballance, founders of Merge
Records, the indie pop-punk vets,
with Jon Wurster and Jim Wilbur
on drums and guitar respectively,
were on point and were quick to get
down to business. Jamming out a
mix of tracks from their new album,
including the too-catchy “My Gap
Feels Weird” and “Slow Drip”,
as well as the expected standbys
“Watery Hands” and “Hyper
Enough”, their set showcased a lot
of the things that, in this attendee’s
mind, have always made Superchunk

 

Pins.

a relevant band. Their energy was
great and their appreciation for

the crowd greater still. Being that
they’re 21 years deep into their
time as a band, to say that they
were lively would not only be gross
understatement, it would also be no
mere feat to scoff at.

Even in the 90s, the thick of the
band’s heyday, there was an ineffable
something, a certain timelessness if
you will, about Superchunk. It was
this same quality that was reflected
in the demographic of the crowd that
gathered in their support on October
13". It was the natural meshing of
lifers in their 40s and young-pups in
their 20-somethings that generated
the electrifying atmosphere that
energized the wariest of patrons,
even in the sweltering heat of the
throng. Days later my neck is still
sore, my voice still strained; signs of
an indie king’s return to the throne.

 

 

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