(all photos by Keith Klenowski)

Silversun Pickups, Cage The Elephant and Manchester Orchestra were in Cincinnati this week. Our live reviewer Dave Rolfes was on hand and files this report.

This past Monday night marked quite a triple bill at Bogart’s in Clifton that was sure to get your week kicked off with a loud and intense night. This was exactly the kind of night that Bogart’s is made for – young up and coming rock bands cutting their teeth, making waves, and taking a club full of folks to a whole new level. Clearly ENS wasn’t the only one with this thought as right around 8pm the line stretched down Vine Street on this gorgeous evening as many concert goers waited patiently to find their way inside.

Due to the unexpected delay getting into the show, I unfortunately missed about half of the Cage the Elephant set. Admittedly unfamiliar with this quintet from Bowling Green, KY not only was I was blown away by the level of energy these guys gave off, but the near capacity crowd gave it right back. Wiry lead singer Matt Schultz is quite unlike anything I’d ever seen as he ran around the stage and shook like a madman, while backed by his brother and three others.

I had done a bit of my homework and listened to a couple of album tracks before the show, but what these guys did in their 40 minutes on stage was close to unreal, and definitely a million miles from what you might hear on their self titled debut album. Matt spent the majority a few songs surfing through the crowd, even rising up triumphantly near the end of their closing number, only to dive back in and be passed around for a few minutes more. While Cage isn’t currently scheduled for another local set in the near future, they will be back and they are not to be missed. Trust me on that one.

Second up was Manchester Orchestra who was making their second local appearance in the area this year. Back in May, they played a headlining set over at The Mad Hatter in Covington which I had the pleasure of attending. They put on quite a show that night, and after Cage they were going to have to come strong. Singer Andy Hull came to the stage in a plaid flannel and a large rimmed hat, evoking a bit of a country singer and he and the band proceeded to put up another solid 40 minute set. Some tunes on the newest album could easily be described as bipolar, and that was evident with the first two songs of the night. The brooding opener “You, My Pride & Me” was followed quickly by the rocker “Shake it Out” and at that point the boys from Atlanta, GA were off and running.

While lead singer Andy Hull is actually fairly reserved on stage, his keyboard playing pal Chris Freeman is a huge ball of energy. He bounced and bounced and bounced through songs, with gyrations that are really without comparison. The band worked through the rest of their set leaning hard on material from their newest release “Everything to Nothing”. About three quarters of the way into the set, Andy lost his hat though his long hair and beard still covered his face. At one point during the title track he pulled his hair back and made eye contact with the crowd for the first time, and the place went crazy. The band had a few more in them before closing the set out with the rather lengthy “The River”. All in all it was a solid appearance, though towards the end in some of the quieter times, there was a lot of talking going on in the crowd which makes me think they lost at least a part of their audience along the way.

Rounding out the night was the Silversun Pickups. Prior to taking the stage, the crowd got rowdy & clapped in unison as the lights dimmed. Dark and moody instrumental music played as the band took the stage and opened up with “Growing Old Is Getting Old”. Aside from the slightly mysterious voice of Brian Aubert, the next noticeable thing about SSPU is drummer Chris Guanlao. Not only does he play with intensity, and keep this four piece on pace, but he often reaches to the sky while smacking the skins, including a cymbal placed high above the rest of his drum kit. The band then moved into the opener from Swoon, “There’s No Secrets This Year” which got the crowd going good. Thirty blistering minutes into the set they finally took a break to acknowledge the crowd. Brian mentioned that this was their first true show in Cincinnati as they had played in the past at Southgate House over in KY, and had done some sets for WOXY.com downtown. They were up on current events as he mentioned WOXY’s recent move to Austin and broke into “Little Lover’s So Polite”, declaring beforehand that “this one is for WOXY.”

As the band wound through their time on stage, they were more improvisational than I expected. They played well with each other and didn’t let their songs get too far off course, which for the most part kept this Monday night crowd really involved. While the lighting was minimal, it stayed pretty consistent with a dark blue and purple hue hanging over the stage for all of SSPU. They finished out the set with this year’s “Panic Switch” and “Lazy Eye” from their debut album Carnavas which definitely sent the crowd over the edge from the first note. SSPU closed with a ton of energy which really would have been great to see on a more consistent basis throughout the show, though I’d have to say that any of their songs live are better than what appears on the album. After a three song encore which included the band leaving the stage one by one, the night was over.

While Bogart’s has its challenges, this was the kind of night the venue is made for. Hot and sweaty rock bands, playing hot and sweaty music, and a thousand strangers gathering together to hear it all and catch a little magic. While the venue is by no means perfect, on this evening it served its purpose. It was also fun with three of the more energetic guys you will see on a stage (Matt from CTE, Chris from MO, and Chris from SSPUU) keeping things visually entertaining throughout the night.

And finally, we all have to give a special thanks to “Jen the Bartender”, who armed this reviewer with two pens for the show in place of the ones that were confiscated while going through the ultra tight security checkpoint while coming in the doors.