Dream Police - Seattle Gay News

The Raveonettes bask
in The Triple Door’s
intimate ambience
by Jessica Browning
SGN A&E Writer
The Raveonettes
w/ Midnight Movies
June 5 @ The Triple Door
Any excuse to head downtown and
soak up some five-star musical talent
and atmosphere at The Triple Door is
worthwhile. The beautiful booths and
outstanding food from the kitchen of the
Wild Ginger is reason enough to hit the
so-called “West Edge” any night of the
week. When the Danish noise-pop duo The
Raveonettes announced a stripped-down set
there (promoting nothing in particular, I was
told) I decided to make a night of it. Billed
as a “Special Electric Duo” performance, I
was excited to see what the band could do
- without the band.
impossibly beautiful Foo and her partner
in crime, Rose, wanted to strike out on
their own, unencumbered except for the
essentials. Mind you, this wasn’t to mean
acoustic. In fact, nearly the entire set was
still pleasantly noise-laden, yet somehow, a
little more intimate.
In a flash, the duo officially took the stage,
glasses of red wine in hand. Foo, dressed in
black with her trademark platinum hair, and
Rose in his favored black and white stripes
looked a little awkward at first, no doubt
getting used to playing in a lavish dinner
theater where everyone was seated in
booths. A brilliant cover of Buddy Holly’s
“Everyday” kicked things off, and it wasn’t
long until both audience and performers
warmed up nicely.
Foo played simplified percussion on
just a snare and floor tom. Sandra Vu of
Midnight Movies took over drumming for
a fair amount of the set, taking cues from
Out Israeli idol
by Larry Nichols
Philadelphia Gay News
Special to the SGN
Ivri Lider may not be a household name
in the United States, but if he has his way,
that will soon change. For now, he’ll just
have to be satisfied with being a hugely
popular and out pop star in his native Israel
with a number of gold and platinum albums
to his credit.
It’s not that Lider hasn’t started to make
a ripple in the U.S. music scene yet. Lider
is the only international artist featured
on the recently released emerging queer
artist compilation “Music with a Twist:
Revolutions.” Lider also completed a
quick U.S. tour last year of intimate venues
in cities like New York, Chicago, San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
“Israeli audiences know me and know
“The sexuality issue in Israel, it’s really
open,” he said. “Not like in Lebanon or
Egypt and especially not Iran or Iraq.
The whole situation in the Middle East,
of course, is making life a little bit more
difficult for Israelis.”
Despite those difficulties, Lider said the
constant influx of so many different cultures
in Israel has its benefits, especially when it
comes to acquiring his musical influences.
“I feel like Israel is very diverse,” he
said. “We’re influenced a lot by the U.S.
and also a lot by Europe. So it’s a mixture
of American music and European music.
We’re kind of in the middle and we get
all the Middle Eastern music, so it’s a big
melting pot of influences and styles. I love
a lot of stuff. I play a lot of jazz, classical
music and modern music like Brian Eno,
Lou Reed, Bob Dylan. I love Bjork. I love a
lot of bands from London and the U.S. like
PHOTO by EMI
PHOTO by soren solkaer
The Raveonettes
Openers Midnight Movies took to the
stage, after most patrons had wined and
dined for an hour or so. Hailing from Los
Angeles, the two girls clad in sparkly shirts
and two non-descript boys crafted a wall
of Sky Cries Mary-esque sound. It took
me a song or two to warm up to them, but
eventually I found myself swept up in their
psychedelics and dreamy vocals.
The sound at the Triple Door is so perfect,
I couldn’t help but think that the reason I
was enjoying them so much was because
you could actually hear every instrument
and vocal, every whack of the tambourine.
The Triple Door’s excellent acoustics
served them well. Not to mention, when
drummer Sandra Vu came out from behind
her drums and grabbed a flute to play the
familiar intro to “Knights In White Satin”,
I was impressed. What young, LA hipsters
cover The Moody Blues? Midnight Movies,
that’s who.
After a brief intermission and another
round of drinks, I noticed Sharin Foo
and Sune Rose Wagner in the shadows
of the darkened stage, tuning their own
instruments and sound checking, thus
proving it really was just the two of them as
advertised. Foo and Rose are the heart and
soul of The Raveonettes, but have enlisted
an assortment of backing musicians for
previous tours. This time the ultra-slinky,
Rose since obviously, they were winging
it. It worked. The result was a fresh look at
the music of The Raveonettes, highlighting
how the dynamic of these two sparks their
entire appeal. “Attack of The Ghost Riders”
and “Love Can Destroy Everything” were
favorites from past releases. I can hardly
wait for brand new songs such as “Lust”
and “Black Satin” to see the light of day on
a new release, whenever that may be.
Giving a nod to their influences, covers of
The Gun Club (“Sex Beat”) and even Sonic
Youth (“100%”) respectfully delivered.
The Raveonettes admit to being a degree
repetitive, but in doing so strive to always
keep it interesting. The past is referenced
only as a means to conjure up tried and true
songwriting. Heartbreaking beats, stories
of love and teenage rebellion, harmonies
to die for - these things they have lovingly
mastered.
Now living in New York and sometimes
Los Angeles, Foo and Rose have been
socializing with the likes of The Dandy
Warhols, William Reid (of the recently
reunited Jesus & Mary Chain), and LA
locals such as Midnight Movies. Here’s
hoping the freedom to hit the road whenever
they feel like it and rub noses with their
influences only inspires The Raveonettes
further in what they do best.
the songs, so it makes it a bit easier, but I
get the feeling that the American audiences
are very open to listen to some new music,”
Lider said of his toehold in American pop.
“I felt like it was an open audience. They
want to have fun and hear what you have to
say. It was good.”
The fact that Israel shares borders with
many socially conservative countries
means that Lider has to travel far outside
of his country’s borders to perform for an
international audience.
“I’m sorry to say, but Israel doesn’t have
a good relationship with its neighbors,” he
said. “Culturally, we’re closer to the U.S.,
the U.K. or Berlin than our neighbors. I
don’t get to play, I’m sorry to say, in places
like Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. So it’s
much easier for us to come and play in
the U.S. than to go and have a concert in
Egypt.”
Lider went on to explain that the political
issues between those countries — along
with his openness about his sexuality — are
the reasons he’s limited in his opportunities
to tour in that region of the world.
Ivri Lider
Bright Eyes.”
While most of Lider’s releases are sung
in Hebrew, he says that singing and writing
songs in English definitely has an appeal
for him.
“Hebrew is my first language and I feel
very comfortable in it,” he said. “But more
and more, I’m writing in English. I love
writing songs in English because it’s a
different experience for me. I find myself
able to say all kinds of things in English that
I can really say the same in Hebrew. Also
the way the language is communicating
with the music is kind of different because
the sound of the language is different.
English is the language of music, so it’s a
really good experience for me to write and
sing in English.”
Lider is currently working on an Englishlanguage
album that he hopes will be
available in the States next year.
For more information, see www.ivrilider.
com.
© 2007 Philadelphia Gay News
8 Seattle Gay News PRIDE ‘07 Music
June 15, 2007