Concert Review
Hot Chip
Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
September 25, 2005
There’s a scene about halfway through Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise where the Tri-Lams are trying to get attendees of some sort of fraternity convention to vote against proposition thirteen, which would exclude the nerds from membership by, well I don’t exactly remember. What’s important is that the Nerds hotwire the neon sign in front of their hotel so that it reads “HOT ORAL SEX” instead of “HOTEL CORAL ESSEX,” thus causing a traffic jam and bringing throngs of college students in to see their saves-the-day musical performance.
Everyone has a special purpose: Poindexter plays electric violin; Booger plays bass; Skolnick hits the turntables; Lamar raps. It gels. Their song lauds nerdom while shaking plenty of hips, and it becomes clear from the chanting that everyone is going to “vote no on thirteen, no on thirteen.”
It’s a heartwarming scene. Even more heartwarming, however, was Hot Chip’s performance at the Empty Bottle. The correlation comes because the fellows in Hot Chip have a pretty sturdy nerd vibe. There’s only one guitar between the five of them. Everything else is itty-bitty sequencers and keyboards. There’s even a guy with glasses that hunches over his stack like a fussy little scientist; adorable. Plus the fellow that does all the low-end harmonizing, while too sharply-dressed to be a Booger, looks sort of like the guy in a sitcom who sits on a couch cracking open 24oz. beers and firing wisecracks at the straight man.
But while these dudes look totally milquetoast, they fucking kill a room with big-balled soul; just like the nerds. Half the time I didn’t know whether to dance or take another blast of nasal spray.
Best shit ever (for now).
