Company of Thieves steal the show in Chicago

July 26, 2009, at the Wicker Park Festival

By Selena Fragassi
Published: July 28th, 2009 | 5:35pm

On first glance, Company of Thieves’ pocket-sized singer Genevieve Schatz could be mistaken for a burgeoning French film star with her soft ringlet hair, perfectly pale skin, and demure glances that could win magazine covers and swooning hearts, even in the midst of a simple mic check. But once Schatz opened her mouth at the annual summer hipster haven, the Wicker Park Fest, demure became merely an antonym for a deep, homegrown Chicago soul and a voice that could literally shoot stars across the sky.

It’s anyone guess why Schatz has not shot to full-fledged stardom herself with an exuberant energy that could put a toddler to shame and a committed passion that sets her apart from some of today’s most driven female singers. Although having released the debut album, Ordinary Riches (Wind-up) just this year, it’s only a matter of time.

Joined by bandmates Marc Walloch and Mike Ortiz, the trio swam through most of the album’s tracks including “Under the Umbrella,” “In Passing,” and the talked-about single, “Oscar Wilde.” Although Walloch and Ortiz gave a considerable effort asking for attention from the sides of the stage, there was only one thief in this company who could steal the spotlight.

Dressed in a retro, patterned summer dress, Schatz shook, rattled, and rolled back and forth from her mic, taking out her aggression on an innocent tambourine and raising her arms in glee to reveal hidden tattoos. Every move she made was inherently sexy and glamorous, from covering her ears to dim the feedback to letting out her inner lounge singer when requesting of the sound tech, “the vocals down, baby.” Schatz is an anomaly in a world of Urban Outfitters catalogue cutouts that sometimes pervade the indie rock scene. Her retro vibe, Bjork-inspired vocals, and Broadway theatrics give her a fistful of artillery to fight her way to the top which is undoubtedly where this band is headed.

In the short set’s finale, Schatz introduced a four-piece horn section and two soul sister back-up singers for a new untitled song that really got down to the band’s true Chicago blues roots with a jazzy rhythm that won over the sea of people that kept growing and growing throughout the set.

But it was at the very end of a cover of Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move” that Schatz proved her weight. As she asked the crowd to repeat after her, Schatz belted out a soaring, never-ending note that could have made Aretha Franklin faint — in fact, it made her back-up ladies fan their faces and bow in admiration. When the audience was stunned in silence (and well, because there was no copying Schatz), all she could do was giggle. It’s this type of modest brilliance that will have Company of Thieves stealing hearts and charts before the summer season, and the band’s summer tour ends.

—

For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page

Company of Thieves official site

Company of Thieves MySpace page

Wind-up Records