The last time I had a chance to see Andy Falkous live was in 2004, when Mclusky were touring to support The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire. I had my tickets in-hand and my friend and fellow TMT-er Paul Bower visiting from out of town, only to discover Bower’s underage ass wasn’t 21 enough to get into the venue. Of course, Mclusky disintegrated less than a year later, and ever since I’ve been plagued with regret over that (in hindsight) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So long story short, Future of the Left’s show at Bottom Lounge came with a fair share of emotional baggage.
{Team Band} was just wrapping up as I arrived. The group stumbled through a few slices of mostly straightforward guitar pop like a drunken wedding band, but they earned my affection by closing with an impromptu cover of The Misfits’ “Where Eagles Dare.” Singer/guitar player Lauren Larson of Austin’s {Ume} took the stage looking like she’d just clocked out from an American Eagle shoot, but her band’s punk-injected rock ’n’ roll spoke for itself. Larson’s breathy delivery turned to sandpaper at all the right moments, the flailing frontwoman transforming into a blur of hair during every guitar solo.
Impressive as {Future of the Left}’s musicianship was, it was almost overshadowed by their razor-sharp stage banter. Even a cursory glance at his lyrics will clue you in to the fact that Andy Falkous is a pretty funny guy, but he and singer/bass player Kelson Mathias riffed effortlessly off one another between songs for 5 minutes at a time. The band even fed on the negative energy coming from the crowd, at times inviting audience members to hurl insults at them. When one frustrated concert-goer accused the band of diluting their set with “stand-up,” Falkous sympathized with his apparent confusion, saying it was like watching a porno where “you tune in for some hardcore gang-banging and they’ve gone and added a post-modern twist.”
Their set borrowed about equally from 2008’s Curses and this year’s Travels. They chainsawed through misanthropic gems like “Arming Eritrea” and “Manchasm” with giddy abandon. Falkous’s animal roar may have taken front-and-center in most songs, but I was absolutely blown away by Mathias. His vocals tend to disappear into the background on the records, but this guy was hitting notes on Friday that I have never heard a dude hit. Future of the Left ended the night with a shambolic performance of “Cloak the Dagger” that degenerated into a hairball of raw noise. In between whammying with a drumstick and playing a discordant keyboard solo, Falkous could be found disassembling Jack Egglestone’s kit while the hapless drummer struggled to keep playing, and all the while Matthias hurled himself into the crowd, occasionally chanting the lyrics to “Wanna Be Startin Somethin.” It was a magnificent way to say goodnight.
