I'm From Barcelona – The Independent, San Francisco, CA – 29/04/08

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Photograph by Daniel Kielman

Some concerts make you feel like you’re at a party but nothing comes even close to I’m From Barcelona. The 29 (24 on the road) members of the Swedish indie pop band truly inhabit all the great feelings swirling around birthdays without all the party pooping connotations that anchor the event’s true joy for adults. The Jönköping natives’ set at San Francisco’s Independent introduced West Coast fans to song’s off their debut album, 2006′s Let Me Introduce My Friends for the first time. The wait was definitely worth it. Los Angeles outfit, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, sparked the energy for the night well with their raucous mix of punk, folk, and bluesy rock. Dustin Apodaca’s caustic lead vocals pushed the band through song’s with the punk veracity of The Pogues on “Dear Honey” and “Street Fighter.” Edson Choi and Kyle Divine also shredded their vocal boxes with equal abandon. Despite the schizophrenic nature of their music they paid tribute to the softer 60′s and 70′s AM pop nexus that their sound nodded to on last year’s slept on debut, First You Live with a cover of The Band’s “The Weight.” The ambling organ, apple wagon drum kit, twangy guitar, and Andrea Babinski’s dusty fiddle slosh the country folk of “Oh Icicle.” The same holds true for the gloriously shambolic groove on “Leaving Tennessee.” The whole thing comes off free of irony and with plenty of earnest youthfulness. Sure there are plenty of young twenty-something bands mining the depths of the same classic rock era but not with the same fervor as this bright sextet.

When Emanuel Lundgren and his merry band of Swedes sauntered onto The Independent’s stage their arrival was met with much fanfare and plenty of confetti and balloons handed out by other members of the massive group. Several extra large balloons – about the size of a sumo wrestlers torso were tossed into the crowd as well and the band then launched into a joyous version of “Treehouse.” On the opener and the songs following it, I’m From Barcelona retained all the bombast of The Polyphonic Spree with none of that band’s latent creep factor (i.e. – no matching cult-like robes or black war attire). The combination of that with indie pop’s fragile sensibility (think along the lines of The Boy Least Likely To) and the intimate show proved to be full of great antics.

Two new songs, “Surrounded” and “Mingus” didn’t leave the audience perplexed at all – mainly due to Lundgren’s topsy-turvy delivery. I overhead someone in the crowd comparing him to a Muppet and his mad scientist hair certainly made that seem apropos. His off-kilter careening and flopping onto the stage struck a chord with the youthful spirit in the crowd. During “Oversleeping” Lundgren even crowd surfed. Like kids bouncing on their beds, the 24 members of Barcelona whirred through a dizzying set filled with kazoo solos and countdown confetti blasts. Songs like “Collection of Stamps” and “The Painter” proved to be crowd favorites. After all the joyful playtime Lundgren and one of the saxophone players started an impromptu conga line that mutated into a dance ring and then a limbo dance. It was the perfect way to end the party…I mean the concert.

Setlist:
Treehouse
Surrounded
Rec & Play
Collection of Stamps
Chicken Pox
Mingus
Oversleeping
The Painter
Britney
We’re From Barcelona
Barcelona Loves You

Encore
Headphones
Jenny
Ola Kala