Parquet Courts touched down in Burlington, VT on Wednesday night, bringing their latest album and oldest favorites to a grateful Higher ground.
Brooklyn indie rockers have released their seventh studio album, Sympathy for life, October 22. The mind-blowing effort builds on their expansive sound while feeling more crowd-worthy than ever. With thought-provoking lyrics and mind-blowing instrumentals, the band makes a statement about their identity for the dancing masses.
The New York group Public Practice has opened its doors for the prosecution. Their dreamy, punky disco-rock moves as smoothly as lead singer Samantha York scrambles on the stage. The group’s bubbly frontwoman celebrated her birthday that night; Austin Brown of Parquet Courts brought her a celebratory cupcake to the stage. As the crowd sang “Happy Birthday,” he knelt on the ground so that she could blow out a birthday candle.
Inviting the crowd to dance, York pointed out, “How good it feels to be together, to listen to music and to move our fucking bodies. Her singing voice, perfectly complemented by the high harmonies of bassist Drew Citron, begged to be danced.
Parquet Courts took the stage in the ballroom after about 45 minutes. The crowd remained patient and were rewarded with an “Application / Apparatusâ€, an opening jam of wild synths and a jaw-dropping guitar riff illustrating the unique brand of Parquet Courts.
Sympathy for life haunting and unexpected melodies attract you immediately. Live, Parquet Courts takes their best tracks to the next level with unique riffs and intuitive ventilations. The nervous “Almost Had To Start A Fight / In and Out of Patience” sounded the size of a stadium as Sean Yeaton and A. Savage shouted into their mics. And on “Plant Life”, the masterful melodica of A. Savage was the icing on the cake of a woozy breakdown that seemed wonderfully endless. As swirling green lights filled the stage, shaped like leaves, the room seemed transformed.
The group had a hold on the Vermont crowd, heavy on college kids. Parquet Courts shouted at the famous Burlington Pure Pop Records spot, “for all the vinyl heads out there.” They knew their crowd, and cheers erupted from the pit.
After 11 years of “pure and pure hits,†as Brown joked, their catalog is far too rich to fit into one package. But the Parquet Courts selection presented showed them in their best light. Their weird, raw music and emotionally charged lyrics can speak on many different levels, at many different emotions. One of their shows is nothing less than a roller coaster.
Yet all night the crowd stayed there with them. Moments after a chosen individual surfed the loser’s hymn “Stoned & Starvingâ€, the whole crowd slowly swayed together on mournful and thoughtful “Pulcinellaâ€. Although the group did not resurface to calls for an encore, the ballad was the perfect conclusion. My favorite song on Sympathy for life (and it’s closer), the astonishing outro evokes a cinematic emotion of nostalgia and change. Savage’s gentle hum could be a lullaby; he seems unrecognizable, but completely himself. Before I knew it, I was swinging to the beat with the rest of the crowd.
Parquet Courts will continue their North American tour until 2022, with two dates in New York scheduled for next year. Check out the full list of shows and venues below:
November 6— Stone Pony * – Asbury Park, NJ
November 17 – White Oak Music Hall – Houston, Texas
November 19 — Stubbs BBQ- Austin, TX
November 21 – Corona Capital 2021 – Mexico, Mexico
February 27, 2022 — The Orange Peel – Asheville, North Carolina
February 28, 2022— Georgia Theater– Athens, Georgia
March 02, 2022 – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
March 03, 2022— Saturn-Birmingham, AL
March 04, 2022 – Cannery Ballroom – Nashville, TN
March 05, 2022— The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
March 07, 2022— Liberty Hall – Lawrence, KS
March 10, 2022— First Avenue, – Minneapolis, MN
March 11, 2022 – Turner Hall Ballroom- Milwaukee, WI
March 12, 2022 — Riviera Theater – Chicago, IL
March 13, 2022— Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit – Detroit, MI
March 15, 2022 РMr. Smalls Caf̩ РMillvale, PA
March 16, 2022 – Agora Theater & Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
March 17, 2022 – Queen Elizabeth Theater – Toronto, ON
March 18, 2022 – Corona Theater– Montreal, QC
March 31, 2022 – Royale – Boston, MA
April 01, 2022— Brooklyn Steel- Brooklyn, NY
April 02, 2022— Brooklyn Steel– Brooklyn, NY
April 04, 2022 —9: 30 Club – Washington, DC
April 05, 2022 – The Fillmore Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA
April 20, 2022— Ogden Theater– Denver, CO
April 22, 2022 – The Showbox – Seattle, WA
April 23, 2022 – Imperial Vancouver– Vancouver, BC
October 18 – Coral Sky Amphitheater * – West Palm Beach, Florida.
April 25, 2022 — McMenamins Crystal Ballroom- Portland, OR
April 27, 2022 – Fox Theater – Oakland, California
April 28, 2022— The Wiltern – Los Angeles, California
April 29, 2022 — The Glass House – Pomona, California
April 30, 2022 — The Observatory North Park — San Diego, California
* with public practice
