The Clientele: Live at the Cat's Cradle 5/10/07

The Clientele headlined the Cat's Cradle for the first time last night, although they headlined at the Local 506 the previous two years. Alasdair MacLean and company were at the top of their game, playing to a humble, yet solid crowd of nearby indie rockers, Chapel Hill/Durham DJs, and Merge Records employees. I arrived after the first band, and the Ladybug Transistor were soundchecking. I felt fine being alone in the sparse crowd - seeing the Clientele isn't exactly supposed to feel like a party. The Ladybug Transistor, also on Merge, played a nice set of twangy southern pop, but didn't show much musical variety. At least they were in good spirits and in the welcome hands of the Merge crowd.

I went outside to the patio with a glass of water and saw Alasdair talking to some friends. As I sat and watched the Clientele frontman interact with the locals, I became lost in the night and fully prepared for the Clientele. They played a decently varied set, drawing heavily from their new album, God Save the Clientele. The set also featured "Since K Got Over Me" and "My Own Face Inside the Trees" from my favorite record of theirs, Strange Geometry. But, the highlight of the set was "Lamplight" from 2003's The Violet Hour. Alasdair went crazy on the Telecaster, making a sprawling five minutes of pretty loud raucous joined by beautiful trumpet playing from the Ladybug Transistor's singer, who joined the stage only for "Lamplight." It was probably the band's best set of the four I've seen in Chapel Hill.