Last week wasn’t the first time Silversun Pickups brought their distinctive fuzz through Philadelphia; in fact, it was their seventh time playing in front of a crowd of Brotherly Love since 2004. If you were lucky enough to spot this great rock band earlier in their career then you probably made it out to their shows at Johnny Brenda’s or First Unitarian Church back in 2006, but odds are that lead vocalist and guitarist Brian Aubert won’t believe you really did.
After receiving much critical acclaim surrounding their full length debut album, Carnavas, the buzz about Silversun Pickups increased exponentially after their song “Panic Switch” hit radio frequencies following the release of their second full length album Swoon, in the spring of 2009, landing them a slot opening for British-trio Muse in the early part of this year through mid-April. The band’s personality appears as friendly as it is dark, through they will wreck venue PA systems wherever they bring their distortion and blow audiences away with each performance.
Taking the stage to a roaring audience, the artistic pallet of strobe lights created the backdrop for the band as they opened with “Growing Old is Getting Old” off of their most recent album. The dim and colorful stage lighting gave the band a mysterious artistic aura as they transitioned into “Well Thought Out Twinkles,” the heavy opening track to Carnavas. As Brian Aubert came out to the edge of the stage to solo, the darkness kept him at bay from the audience and made it seem like something unknown still lurked within the music. Brian’s solos on most of the songs are not over-technical as they are throbbing, yet they pull you in like a rough ocean tide as heard on “Future Foe Scenarios” and “Substitution.”
I’ve never seen a bass player that looked as happy as Nikki Monninger did while performing on stage. Sporting a red and dark blue polka dot dress, her passion for playing was shown by her wide smile and body language throughout the show. Her backup vocals provide the perfect harmonies to complement Aubert’s raspy voice on songs like “Currency of Love” and “Kissing Families.” After Nikki laid down the bass line for the song “Panic Switch,” I saw her drop her guitar pick and then pick it up, it was so subtle but so interesting to see her pick it back up and continue on like nothing happened.
With the crowd chanting for more after their hour and a half set, Silversun Pickups returned to the Penn’s Landing amphitheatre stage for a two song encore including “Catch and Release” off of Swoon and “Common Reactor” from Carnavas. Closing out the night, before leaving the stage, Aubert and keyboardist Joe Lester assembled deafening distortion through their effect pedals and overdrive, giving the sound and feeling of the eye of a hurricane.
