AXIS|OF|LIVE

New Yorkers love their homegrown heroes, and they’re always bound to come out in droves to show their support when said heroes come home for a visit. The crowd was thin at the start of the sold-out show featuring The Rapture and Sydney electro duo The Presets, but it filled up quickly. At one point, it seemed as if the place was empty, and then a while later, I looked up again, and there were people everywhere, not only on the main floor, but all along the balcony as well. From guys in scary latex masks to shrieking droves of groupies, everyone was excited that the boys were back in town.

On the eve of CMJ 2006, this was a pretty no frills sort of show; the flyer at the entrance of the venue read simply, “9:00 - The Presets, 10:00 - The Rapture,” and the evening didn’t stray far from this plan. The biggest surprise of the night was the great opening set by The Presets, who are touring the States with The Rapture to support their 2005 LP Beams, a mostly hit or miss sort of album, though a very enjoyable first effort. In person, however, they’re all business. Singer Julian Hamilton claimed they were there to “warm up the crowd” for the headliner, but they went above and beyond, getting the crowd really into their music. Julian entertained us with spazzy dances and happy banter, while drummer Kimberley Moyes mainly kept a low profile. He sat at his drum kit until the last few numbers and then when he stood, I was amazed at how thin his lower body was in comparison to his broad shoulders. Dude has skinny legs! Chopstick legs! He gave us a few dance moves, too. It’s amazing how awkward guys can make such awesome music. The pair began the set with “Girl (You Chew My Mind Up,” and plowed through most of the better tracks from their album, ending on a brilliant mash-up of “Down Down Down” and “I Go Hard, I Go Home,” the two best songs on Beams. Aside from an overly long and repetitive song in the middle of their set that dragged the energy down somewhat, they were very impressive. They got big cheers when they left the stage, cheers that were well-deserved. They’re definitely a group that needs to be seen live in order to be truly appreciated. Beams doesn’t even hold half the energy that this performance did.

Ten o’clock was a generous estimate for The Rapture’s arrival. They came on closer to 10:20, emerging after a rather long introductory song. Most of the photos I managed to snap are of members Mattie Safer and Luke Jenner, since I had the best view of them. Mattie is probably my favourite member, though. He strikes me as a bright-eyed kid from the hood who listened to everything from The Cure to Run DMC to Madonna as a kid in the privacy of his bedroom, and now he’s so jazzed just to be up there, flashing his bling (a gold boombox pendant on a gold chain, for the curious) and grinning like a fox. Most of energy, however, radiated from Luke Jenner, who flailed about wildly to the beat in his multi-eyeballed Halloween t-shirt, his cheekbones razor-sharp beneath the bright lights of Webster Hall. The easily-flustered group of girls beside me started to scream every time he danced. They were so loud, it sounded as if they were being butchered to death, but were merely, um… extremely titillated, shall we say? We were also near another group who managed to get to the other side of the barricade, in the space that separates it from the main stage. Luke looked a little freaked out by the guy who was practically slamdancing in that space the entire time, since no one from security bothered to usher him elsewhere. Whether the guy was high on The Rapture or something miscellaneous, the world may never know.

I don’t believe the show was without its technical problems; something was wrong with Luke’s volume, either for his vocals or guitar, and he kept motioning to the sound folks to turn it up. It took a while for his wish to be granted and he was obviously distracted by it for a handful of songs. I think they sounded better overall at their show at the Bowery Ballroom last autumn. Luckily, their set this time was energetic enough to make up for it. Despite the fact that the band insists on padding each album with slower, nonexplosive tracks, hardly any of them appeared, aside from “Pieces of the People We Love” and the encore number “Down For So Long,” but even those are pretty dancey. The crowd favorites were predictable, such as this past summer’s smash “Get Myself Into It,” the classic “Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks,” and of course, “House of Jealous Lovers,” which is still as inspiring and incredible as it was the first time I heard it. “Heaven” was a perfect opener to get the audience going, and “The Sound” was a great closer, though it ended the set somewhat abruptly. It’s one of the best tracks on their new album and sounds just as good live. The girls beside me were screaming for “First Gear” during the encore, but I’m happy to say that the night ended with “Olio” instead, a far, far superior song.

I bet the Bowery show the following evening (Halloween proper) was great; I think The Rapture is better suited to a smaller venue like that. Plus, I hear they wore skeleton costumes. No doubt that was a good time. Here’s the setlist of the Webster show:

Heaven / Get Myself Into It / Sister Savior / The Devil / Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks / I Need Your Love / Killing / Pieces of the People We Love / Whoo! Alright, Yeah…Uh Huh / House of Jealous Lovers / The Coming of Spring / Echoes / The Sound // Down For So Long / Olio

Photos of The Presets:

Photos of The Rapture: