Austinist Show Review: Ratatat @ Emo's
Emo's really packed them in on Thursday night, leaving little room to move to what would have been one helluva dance party. But barring crowd density, we still rocked out as best we could using what space was available. Showing up a little too late to catch opening acts Envelope and Panther, the Ratatat kids teased us by coming out to set up with the roadies. Judging by his rather loopy gait, we surmised that the keyboard player was sozzled, which could explain his antics later on in the show.
If you've been anywhere near an Austin house party in the past couple years, you know Ratatat. Their unironic combination of disparate musical elements has gained them a few tracks on the soundtrack of our generation. Sometimes Baroque and bubbly, other times angular and cuddly, everything comes together, arranged with precision at the atomic level. The true test is how well an instrumental band, always in danger of being labeled a one trick pony, can sell their wares to a live audience. Ratatat don't need to worry their mussy heads about that.
From the opening song, we knew we were in for an aural odyssey. Their "Loud Pipes" made our pants shiver around our legs with the throbbing of the bass, the trademark Ratatat harmonized guitars were right on, and the keyboards cooed like a pair of horny doves gettin' their "lean" on. That's a good thing. Standing about 15 feet back from the mains, the sound still reached levels that would hypnotize a deer, but it made for a scintillating performance.
With tracks evenly chosen from their first, eponymous album, and their newest offering, Classics, the audience had a lot to chew on and nothing to complain about. "Crips" crunched like the cathartic break in Radiohead's "Creep", while a new song (one whose name escapes us) slowly burbled to life before a thrilling climax of one hundred percent pure shred.
It was about this time that a drunken female patron barreled through our cadre to get a better look. Not one to be sucker-punched without giving her two cents, Austinist's own music editor Paige Maguire called out the offending party, asserting frankly, "If you hit me in the kidneys again, I'll beat your ass." To which the human cannonball responded, "Bring it, bitch." Fortunately, the placating power of pure rock 'n roll muted the altercation, and nothing was "brought."
Returning to the music, we bobbed along to "El Pico" and "Seventeen Years", and a few more old gems before Ratatat finished up their set proper and headed offstage. Not ones to keep their salivating fans waiting too long for another taste, they were almost immediately back onstage, closing with two more. Mr. Keyboard couldn't contain himself any longer, and thrust himself into the crowd to hang ten for a spell. He was buoyed along appreciatively, tying off the set in style. Overall, it was a masterpiece of instrumentalism, and no oversold crowd could ruin that. We'll bring our dancing shoes next time they come around in hopes that they play a larger venue.
Photo by Eric Uhlir
