We bought tickets to see Art Brut at the Empty Bottle on Friday, July 28th even though we knew we’d be seeing them the next afternoon at Pitchfork. Dr. Hollencomium and I had seen the group at Coachella, where they competed for a crowd with headliners Franz Ferdinand. They didn’t have a problem then, and presented an energetic, hilarious, drunken bash. It revived me even after 12 hours of music in 100+ degree weather. The Pitchfork Music Festival was almost an equal test at about 95 degrees and 65% humidity. If a bunch of miserable, sunburnt people can still rock out to your music, you’ve succeeded, in my mind.

Lead singer, Eddie Argos, entertains as if he’d been invited to crash your family Christmas party, and—depending on his mood—will either embarrass himself, his bandmates, his family members, or yours, I’m sure, if he knew them. Having seen Art Brut three times now, I can say that they perform for a small crowd regardless of the actual size of the audience—with the small exception that at Pitchfork Argos announced that he did not think that everyone in the audience should go home and form a band, as he usually does during their song “Formed a Band,” instead saying, “even I think that would be too many bands.” I felt that this small-show quality was lost to many of the bands at both Coachella and Pitchfork, some of which played a show that merely mimicked their recorded work and may not have left their audience with any personal value for the experience whatsoever. Perhaps the opinion of some is to judge a show based on the comparison between the live performance and the studio performance, but if I want to hear the album, I can play it at home. I really appreciated the acts that performed for the audience and not for the microphones, and Art Brut was perhaps the lead in this respect.

However, seeing a performance for a small crowd while drowning in a sea of fellow audience members (roasting tomatoes?) versus a performance for a small crowd in a small venue is quite a significant difference. Thus, Art Brut at the Empty Bottle was the better show, hands down.

The opening bands at the Empty Bottle were Headache City and The Ponys. Headache City is worth paying attention to: loud, rocking, and fun. I am also sad to report that though I paid attention for most of Headache City, I was having a really hard time staying awake during the Ponys and thus have nothing to report therin. From what I’ve heard of the Ponys, they are very good, and I wish I weren’t such a worthless lush. But I guess this gives further value to Art Brut’s energy, which both startled me and immediately infected me.

I suppose I’ll finish by summarizing the obvious: Art Brut always starts with “Formed a Band” and always finishes with some version of “Top of the Pops,” as far as I can tell. Sometimes “Rusted Guns of Milan,” which reports an unfortunate sexual problem of a band member, is attributed to Jasper, and sometimes Argos admits it as his own story. Everyday anecdotes without punch lines are somehow ridiculously entertaining when delivered by Argos (“I got a haircut earlier today, at the Polish barber shop just ’round the corner.”). Sometimes, band members Jasper Future, Freddy Feedback, Ian Katskilkin and Mikey B seem embarrassed for their lead-man, but mostly amused by him. It’s hard to capture exactly, and you really ought to catch a show. Highly recommended, especially if you aren’t quite sold on their album. Trust me, it’ll become a favorite if you see this group live.