"We'd like to thank Tim Rutili, and we'd like to thank the boys in Pedro the Lion for supporting us on these way-too-big shows." So began Alan Sparhawk of Low, before the band launched into "California", the second song of their set and first single from The Great Destroyer.
The show reminded me that appearances are deceiving. I learned that Tim Rutuli (of Cailfone), despite his whiskey-meets-cigarettes-meets-gravel-meets-treebark voice, looks nothing like the lumberjack I'd envisioned. I also learned that David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, despite his meek delivery, is the size of a warehouse worker and strums his SG like most people would a banjo in his massive hands. Pedro the Lion had the supporting slot, and their set was quick and workmanlike, with no pauses or banter until the set's near-end, when Bazan stopped to thank Low, "one of the most influential bands in independent music", with whom Pedro had shared a bill on their first Chicago show. He then opened up the floor for a Q & A, in which he shyly fumbled through his responses to the crowd, before launching into their last four songs, among them a raucous cover of Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" and the final "Mind of Her Own".
But the most incongruous visual came when Low took the stage, and I realized their new heavier sound still comes from the same lineup: one guitar, one bass, and one two-piece drum set (okay, there was also a tiny keyboard in front of bassist Zak Sally). Even if the harmonies to their set-opener "Monkey" triggered Alice in Chains flashbacks, it was achieved with the same minimal instrumentation the band has always used. Perhaps the big-rock, stadium-lit show at Chicago's 1,100-head capacity Metro seems an awkward fit to Low's small setup and glacier-paced music. But however daunted they may have been, the Metro's high ceilings and faux-classical architecture complemented Low's traditionally quieter sound, especially songs like the creeping, reverb-heavy "Amazing Grace" and the acoustic "Death of a Salesman"-- performed on the day of Arthur Miller's passing.
There are easy parallels to draw between the two bands, both of whom recently embraced a louder sound and are openly religious without making it the crux of their music. Pedro the Lion played their entire set with volume and added thump, but Low were unafraid to put the breaks on as early as three songs in, and their older songs were received with the same rapt attention from the audience. On this night, perhaps the most apparent similarity between the bands is their humility when faced with a (sold-out) larger crowd-- even though their talents could translate to a venue of any size.
