Our Lady Peace wipes the dust off the Vic (8/22)
Low, hazy blue lights caress the inner walls of Chicago’s sacred Vic Theatre. Drummer Jeremy Taggart silences the high-hat, looking up with sweat-covered brows. The music comes to a light brush, as guitarist Steve Mazur eases up on the feedback. Fans clap, deafening yet inviting, and lightly sing in unison, “Doesn’t anybody ever know?” With a Charlie Brown-like smile, vocalist Raine Maida, from behind an acoustic guitar and a skin-tight leather jacket, exclaims, “Ah, so that’s why I love Chicago,” before driving home the concluding chorus to ’90’s radio hit, “Superman’s Dead.” Yes, Our Lady Peace has returned.
For the past month, the Canadian foursome has been supporting their seventh studio album, last month’s Burn Burn. Considering their last effort hit shelves in ‘05, and to disappointed ears mind you, it’s been awhile since anyone’s even heard of the band let alone seen their faces around town. The response tonight — at least from Chicago — is amicable. Fans range from 20-something to 50-something and they’re mostly guys looking to rock out with their girlfriends. Things have changed since ‘02, however. Blame Maida’s longtime marriage to Chantal Kreviazuk, but the female fans are hardly pining for the singing heartthrob anymore. Instead, it’s a crowd driven for the hits… and then some.
“Monkey Brains” kicks off the night with rumbling bass and kinetic drumming. One of the better tunes off the new record, the hundreds eat it up, though probably because it’s the first time they’re seeing the band in almost half a decade. When Maida screams, “They’re coming after you,” everyone jumps up with yearning hands and hollowed yelps. Soon after, the band rolls out the hits: the sing-along anthem “Innocent”, a dazzling “Angels Losing Sleep”, an intimate rendition of “Is Anybody Home?”, the aforementioned, electrically charged “Superman’s Dead”, and a very dreamy cut of their biggest hit to date, “Somewhere Out There”, complete with a starry, digital backdrop.
While everyone reaches for the rafters during the hits, the new material entertains the fans, as well. That’s because they dig out the album’s real gems. “Paper Moon” bounces along with precision (some even sing along during the verse) and “Escape Artist” fleshes out the setlist without coming off as too stale. The band even opts to wrap up the initial set with current single “All You Did Was Save My Life”. This fast drive catapults Maida into the audience, and much like the band’s former music video, he scales up the venue’s walls, where he finds himself in one of the boxes. It’s there he finishes the chorus, next to a jovial, portly fan who head bangs excitedly and in unison to the song’s running beats.
Of course, no concert would be staple without an encore — though what a finish. When the band returns, they dust off their best tunes, including material off of 2001’s Spiritual Machines (at last). Speedy yet concentrated, “In Repair” ends as fast as it began, only Maida sounds brilliant. Still, even after all this time, fans are clueless on the album, and hardly anyone sings along. Disappointing, to say the least. Though, all that changes with set closer “Starseed”, which blisters through and introduces a little mayhem. He’ll never replace Mike Turner, but Mazur knows how to shred, and with a supporting backdrop of blinding, heavenly light, he doesn’t nail the post-grunge hit, he drills it home. 15 years and some change later, the song still rocks, and hardly anyone touches the floor during the four to five minutes. Letting the distortion die out naturally, Maida stares at the audience, waving goodbye. If we’re lucky, we won’t have to wait four more years again — but we will if it comes to that.
Setlist
Monkey Brains
Superman’s Dead
Angels/Losing/Sleep
Innocent
Clumsy
Paper Moon
Escape Artist
Is Anybody Home?
Somewhere Out There
Bring Back The Sun
One Man Army
Denied
All You Did Was Save My Life
Encore:
4am
In Repair/Thief
Starseed
——
olp were HORRIBLE at vfest yesterday. raine’s voice was flat (not that it’s great to begin with) and they were just boring. it took the hits to get the crowd to respond at all and raine to demand it. it really is sad cos’ not too long ago, they could have headlined the same venue on their own.
Emma, I didn’t know they never played that. Sorry?
How can you NOT have mentioned that they’ve dusted off Denied from their first record? This hasn’t been played live in forever.
i didn’t think you thought they were the top of the class but i just would hold them as high as you. which is why i said to each his own
Mike, I’d like to note that it is not C&C but C+C, may they rest in peace. “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” will rise again!
Well, let’s breakdown what I said: “I still find them to be one of the more intriguing bands of their generation and, well, their genre.”
I said “one of…” which means: they’re one of many. I didn’t say they were the most intriguing of the ’90s. That award goes to C&C Music Factory. Duh.
Were they ever relevant? No.
i don’t know i could think of some mainstream bands that i find more intriguing but to each his own i guess. glad to see you enjoyed the show though.
Emma, I could’ve sworn they played it. I didn’t write the set list and didn’t snag one until this morning, so I forgot I wrote that, but oh well.
And yes, Spiritual Machines and the band’s earlier work in the ’90s make up for some great listens, at least when we’re speaking of “mainstream” music.
you find them to be one of the more intriguing bands from the 90’s? you sir are a wild character
they were once huge here.
now they are mid day festival fodder.
You mention in your article “The End is Where We Begin”… but it was not played at the Chicago show.
And whoever said people don’t care about OLP in Canada is full of crap. They still sell out every concert they do across the country. They’re playing the festival scene this summer to get back out there again after a 3+ year hiatus - to test out the new material, work out the kinks, get back into the touring vibe as a 4-man vs. 5-man band (a la Healthy tour).
Really? That’s sad. I still find them to be one of the more intriguing bands of their generation and, well, their genre.
it’s nice that someone still cares about OLP, especially in the US.
cos’ in canada they’ve gone from arena sized/radio friendly band to playing before the pet shop boys, mid day at a festival.