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Music Review; Hot Hot heats up and gets cookin' BHLD000020031011dzaa0001v THE EDGE LINDA LABAN 375 Words 10 October 2003 Boston Herald All Editions E13 English Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. Hot Hot Heat, French Kicks and Ima Robot at Axis, Boston, Wednesday night. While most Lansdowne Street revelers cheered on the Red Sox on Wednesday night, you had to spare a nod to Sub Pop Records head Jonathan Poneman. Not only did he pioneer the '90s Seattle music boom, delivering rock's greatest prize - Nirvana - he also foreshadowed the garage revival with the Murder City Devils and the then-new wave trend by introducing the world to the infectious pop frippery of Hot Hot Heat. Now signed by a major label and renowned internationally, this British Columbia quartet kicked off a two-night stint at Axis on Wednesday. Impish singer and keyboardist Steve Bays went from singing and playing one-handed keyboards (so very '80s!) to darting around the stage. But, not surprisingly, after an incredibly busy year spent mostly on the road, the Heat seemed to be going through the motions. It takes considerable energy to play music as hyper-bouncy as this, night after night, and really mean it. "Naked in the City Again" sounded grand, however, as circular guitar riffs were cut with the more usual jagged ones. "Aveda" eventually ditched its manic pulse for an enticingly sultry passage. But mostly, short, sharp bursts of anxious pop were dispensed until the quick one-hit encore of "Bandages," the quartet's uber-catchy breakthrough song. "Bandages" should have initiated quake-inducing bouncing down front, but instead it seemed a sweet burst of euphoria, and a moment already past. The French Kicks didn't know whether to be swooning pop stars or arty postpunks. The band intertwined the two, occasionally coming up with an asymmetrical mix of melodicism and jerky tempo that stood up, rather than out. Opener Ima Robot, featuring superstar session drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, REM), knew exactly what it wanted: attention. If the band's nihilistic new wave set didn't get it, then its exit did. Embarrassingly, the "let's go nuts" finale nearly turned nasty when Waronker sent his kit north and south, accidentally hurling a stand toward the audience. Bodily damage was averted only thanks to a quick catch. The Sox would've been proud.

Oh I forgot, there was a very brief "preview" of the show in the Boston Phoenix. Hopefully there'll be a review next week. The sentence about the Bot:

"Tonight's openers include the French Kicks and synth-wave pranksters Ima Robot, a band featuring Beck's old rhythm section, a dude in a Bowie mullet, and a batch of guilelessly retro confections that turn out to be less silly than you'd imagine."

haha. that's so funny about what joey did. how did he react when it headed toward the audience? thankfully, no one was hurt.

oh boy.

He reacted with complete shock, giving a "OH SHIT, I just poked someone's eye out" kind of look. He totally didn't expect the stand to bounce...