After a three year absence from the venue that broke their Swedish cherries back in 2005, when they played the U.S. and the 9:30 Club for the first time, Shout Out Louds hit the stage with the kind of anxious energy that comes with the first night of a tour. The rest of the month finds the quintet crisscrossing the states, Canada, and their first ever appearance in Mexico.
Kicking off with “Sugar” from their newest album “Optica,” the group were out of the chute with a snap and rarely slowed down. You can’t blame them for being excited, this latest CD, from which they played about half of its tracks, could be a career best for the maturing popsters. It’s not that they’re getting old, mind you, it’s just that they have grown up (indeed, drummer Eric Edman was absent because, according to front man Adam Olenius, he was “At home making babies”) and their songwriting reflects their life experiences. By the way, a fellow called Lars (didn’t catch a last name) sat in on drums, and worked so hard, that he glanced at bassist Ted Malmros near the end, flashing a fatigued grin and shrugging his shoulders as if to say, “Dude, this is a WORKOUT, but I love it.”
The mixed crowd included everyone from a well-known NPR broadcaster to young ladies who were barely 12 when the band’s first recordings were released, and the adoration that the fans felt was palpable.
Only a couple of first night glitches popped up: Olenius thought he’d started off in the wrong key during the intro to “Fall Hard,” but maybe he was being kind and taking the fall—because he was certainly in the right key, according to this reporter’s well trained ears—it may have been someone else who started off wrong—at any rate, just a delay of 5 or 10 seconds was all it took to sort things out and keep going. During the very next song, “Normandie,” from 2009, Olenius missed his starting point where the vocal comes in—no matter, just a step back from the mic and a once more around on the intro and he was set to go. It’s doubtful anyone even noticed—a smooth recovery indeed.
Adam Olenius from Shout Out Louds photo by Kyle Osborne
The performance was, otherwise, impeccable, and the band got into grooves early and often that had heads banging more than one might expect, given the sometimes subdued nature of their recordings. This was the band at full-tilt, cranked up and sweating to (their) oldies with as much vigor as the new material. “Where You Come In,” a lovely, melodic song, also from the new “Optica” earned a response every bit as passionate as their more familiar hits from the 2000’s.
All performers kiss ass from the stage, it seems—but when this venue was mentioned, one could tell it wasn’t for cheap applause—it was a recounting of important moments in the band’s history.
Some bands can’t reproduce their recorded sound on the live stage, and that’s always a disappointment. Shout Out Louds not only sound as good as the CD’s, they infuse the tracks with supplemental energy and some showmanship moves (like Olenius climbing over the barrier and into the crowd) that make their concerts a must-see event for anyone who likes to shake their ass with abandon.
I HAVE POSTED COOL STAGE PHOTOS AND THE ACTUAL SET LIST AT: http://www.examiner.com/review/concert-review-shout-out-louds-at-9-30-club
Check all 2013 North American and European Tour Dates Here: http://www.shoutoutlouds.com/news.html