The Boxer Rebellion are currently riding high, touring in support of their 2009 release, Union, which hit number 1 on the iTunes Alternative Album chart after being downloaded over 550’000 times and was only kept off the British magazine charts because it was disqualified for being an internet-only release (although the album has subsequently been released in a physical format and can be purchased at the band’s gigs). Moreover their Q rating has been skyrocketing thanks to some high profile appearances of not only the band’s music (Union cut “Semi Automatic” was featured in an episode of One Tree Hill) but also of the band itself whose members appear in the Drew Barrymore vehicle Going the Distance now out in theaters. Not bad. Not bad at all.
But despite what may certainly be seen as an upwardly mobile career trajectory, the road to stardom for the Anglo-American-Australian quartet hasn’t always been an easy one. Heck, the road has sometimes been flat out cruel. Shortly after the release of their 2005 debut album Exits, their record company Poptones gave up the ghost, leaving the band adrift and label-less in the pop music sea. But the band persevered and carried on by putting the emphasis of Indie Music on the Indie part and self financing their tours and recordings ever since. Nevertheless, sometimes the road is just out to get you. Literally. For the guys in Boxer Rebellion just making it to the gig Saturday (09/25) night proved to be a nearly impossible feat as the band found out on its way to the second of two New York shows bookending an appearance in Washington DC when their van caught fire on a desolate stretch of I-95. Not fun. Not fun at all.
All was not lost, however, as some quick thinking and quicker action managed to save the band and its gear and get both of them to the show on time. The van, however, was not so lucky. May it rest in peace.
Out of the fire, quite literally, and into the frying pan, as it were, of a hipster heavy Brooklyn crowd at the Bell House, a former warehouse converted into a shi-shi lounge/live music venue. Actually, it was a really nice place that could have doubled as a movie studio set that night. The band was filming its performance, and a large boom-operated camera hung over the audience sweeping left and right to create what will surely be sufficiently dramatic footage of the show, while cameramen clutching handhelds also roamed the audience.
Despite the difficulties they had encountered in getting to the show, the band hit the stage ready for their close-ups and put on a crisp performance. Frontman and native Tennessean Nathan Nicholson cut a charismatic figure strumming his guitar and belting it out into the microphone, melting teenager hearts in the process. Australian guitarist Todd Howe commanded his side of the stage with fervor and coaxed fuzzy delay drenched leads from his instrument while exhibiting all the classic stage moves of guitar heroes past. The British rhythm section was anchored by the thunderous pounding of drummer Piers Hewitt and the solid bass playing of Adam Harrison. Sundry keyboards and acoustic guitars also made their appearances.
The band’s sound is one that seems intended to appeal a little more to the Alternative music crowd rather than to Indie scenesters and is best summed up as a distillation of Radiohead and Coldplay, conjoining the hooks of the latter to the broodiness and experimentation of the former. Highlights of the set included the rousing “Automatic,” in which Nicholson emotes like a tuneful version of Caleb Followill (which admittedly isn’t all that hard, since I’m not sure Followill would recognize a tune if it hit him in the face, but still… he could learn a thing or two from Nicholson here) and the aforementioned “Semi-Automatic” to which song with a melody suggestive of Chris Isaac’s “Wicked Game,” the band gave a cathartic rendering. But the absolute best performance of the night was reserved for the closing number, “Watermelon,” their debut single, which the band attacked with all the fury of Kasabian at its surly best and which earned the band the loudest ovation of the night. And to think Boxer Rebellion’s day started with their van catching fire.
If you haven’t heard of the Boxer Rebellion yet, you will. And if you get a chance to see them live, take it, you won’t be disappointed. Me, I can’t wait to see the film. I mean, I want to see whether or not I made it into it. Hope the camera guys didn’t catch me spilling a beer all over myself…
Nick Fokas
Live at Bell House , Brooklyn NYC – September 25, 2010