The Besnard Lakes - Lincoln Hall (Chicago, IL) - January 13, 2011

The new year has arrived and I could not think of a better show or band to start off with. There are not many bands that I feel warrant my attendance at multiple shows, but The Besnard Lakes are that kind of special. This is my fourth go ‘round and it astonishes me that this is the best they have ever sounded live. Nowhere was this more particularly obvious than what was heard from bassist/singer/occasional flute player Olga Goreas. In the previous outings I have witnessed, Goreas sort of blended in without much distinctness. But on night 3 of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival, Olga was assertive and commanding amidst the heavily layered soundscape the band created within this tiny but accommodating venue. With husband and mad genius/guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Jace Lasek at her side making self-deprecating jokes, I knew the performance would be interesting.

The richness of what comes out of their speakers started off with “This Thing”, which was the first song from their debut album I have ever heard them perform live. My ears were confused at first but pleasantly surprised. They wasted no time in ripping through “Devastation”, which is one of the most apropos song titles ever. There was not much in the way of up-tempo tracks on The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse and “Devastation,” was smack dab in the middle threatening to lay waste to rest of the album. They followed that up with “Chicago Train,”. This could be viewed as pandering to the crowd if it wasn’t such an awe-inspiring tune. There are no cheap crowd pops here. This isn’t professional wrestling.

They masterfully went through nearly all of their latest, The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, and four tracks from Dark Horse and, even as good as they were all night, kicked it up an extra notch with their energetic, lockstep, and captivating performances of “And You Lied To Me,” and “And This Is What We Call Progress,”. These were the really stupendous highlights of the night. We were allowed a bit of release with the right out of Twin Peaks sounding “Because Tonight,” and ended on a what Lasek called “a rarity” with “Four Long Lines”, the great b-side from the excellent “Albatross,” twelve inch.

Altogether, the Lakes put on one hell of a performance filled with amazing songs and movie quotes (the band is a huge fan of Kentucky Fried Movie). The David Koresh jokes (Texans believe Lasek looks like the infamous Waco Wacko) were practically redundant since most of the crowd, myself included of course, was already drinking the Kool-Aid.

Setlist:
This Thing
Devastation
Chicago Train
Land Of Living Skies Pt. 1: The Land
Land Of Living Skies Pt. 2: The Living Skies
Disaster
Albatross
Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean
Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 2: The Innocent
Glass Printer
And You Lied To Me
And This Is What We Call Progress
Because Tonight
Four Long Lines