Image by Kirstie Shanley
The kids go boy-band crazy for Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki and Mahjongg in Chicago on June 11, 2007
By Lori Finkel
Published: June 15th, 2007 | 1:10pm
The lengthy setup for the Architecture in Helsinki show on June 11, 2007, could not have left an audience quivering more violently with anticipation. Factory-fresh Converses scuffed at the polished hardwood floors, which shone with the reflection of a ceiling decorated like icing on a wedding cake. Logan Square Auditorium — an unexpectedly elegant setting for such scruffy looking and sounding bands as Architecture and the opener, the mustachioed, greasy-headed Chicago-based band Mahjongg.
A few scatters of people danced excitedly while the rest of the crowd endured Mahjongg’s set, whose songs are so danceable it takes effort try and keep your arms folded and bop your head only slightly. Mahjongg whips up a mean, fast-paced electronic beat with a stout bongo jungle rhythm and sometimes a mouth organ — a delicious recipe for a dance party. But of course, everyone’s saving the dance for Architecture.
All the quivering and convulsions were well worth the wait. Keyboardist and vocalist Kellie Sutherland and the rest of the band climbed on stage, and two 15-year-old boys smashed against the edge did all they could not to soil themselves or faint when Sutherland’s ample bosom smashed against her plum-colored satin blouse as she bent down in front of them to fix keyboard wires.
“Red Turn White,” a song off their album Places Like This set to release in August, started the set, followed by “One Heavy February,” but Architecture knew exactly how long they could try the audience’s patience before busting out with “Frenchy, I’m Faking” for the third.
It wasn’t long after “Frenchy, I’m Faking” that the quintessential drunk girl who somehow ends up standing right behind you at any given show began screaming, “Cameron I love you! Say ‘Attic in the Basement’!” to fill the space between songs. So he pronounced it in Aussie for her, and the girl swooned, along with the rest of the fresh-faced, messy-yet-clean haired high school-aged crowd.
Before “Wishbone,” lead singer and guitarist Cameron Bird explained the origin of the song, because of course no one could have figured out it’s about the chicken bone you and a friend snap in half to see who gets the biggest piece — the wish. The band drew out the ending of “Wishbone,” with Bird and Sutherland galloping around the stage, tapping whatever was in their hands on whatever instrument was near.
After whipping through “It’5!,” “Do the Whirlwind,” and “Maybe You Can Owe Me,” Architecture gave the audience enough of the favorites to satisfy so that they could gently ease in “Heart it Races” as the last song, a track off the unreleased album, without the crowd getting their panties in a twist that there would be no encore.
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Photos by Kirstie Shanley
Issue #25
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