Earlier in the day, Cartel had made an appearance on MTV's "Total Request Live." What's somewhat shocking about this is that it will more likely be another cause of the band's exploding popularity as opposed to a result -- the band was only headlining the Fillmore at Irving Plaza (formerly the more concise Irving Plaza), a 1,200-cap club around Union Square, later that day.
This didn't actually matter entirely to me, however. The band's first EP was a bona fide guilty pleasure; the followup full-length was spotty, but decent enough -- not really worth the promise of hunting down its major label debut and followup.
What mattered was the terrific openers they brought out: Weatherbox, who slowly but surely continue to escape the shadow left by their Doghouse Records alum, and the Honorary Title, the Brooklyn-based outfit with a bizarre metamorphosis that's thankfully still enjoyable in the end result.
Weatherbox calmly walked onto the stage at precisely 7:30. Without a word they launched immediately into "Atoms Smash," "Armed to the Teeth" and "The Dreams," with only second-long pauses between. The band sounded fantastic, nailing every chord and each of the four members clearly into it and rocking. While barefoot singer/guitarist Brian Warren was responsible for unleashing his personal confessions upon the audience in lyrical form, it was guitarist Lowell Heflin that engaged the crowd during and in between songs. Warren spoke not a word to them, instead letting Heflin introduce the band and make small, friendly chatter during breaks. The band improvised a little with the bridge of "Armed to the Teeth," adding noodly, mid-`90s emo riffs. When they played "The Dreams" so early on, it was surprising -- it's one of their most well-written songs, but it's also got a ton of depth, without a whole lot of repetition to cling onto on first listen. Closer "Trippin' the Life Fantastic" was an obvious highlight; when Warren delivered to us his faith in anti-religion, he glared at the crowd hard -- you could tell he meant it. The Honorary Title's Jon Wiley came out to lend some keyboard assistance on "Trippin'," as well. All along, the band had been putting on a clearly inspired performance, but their bassist was literally pounding his fretboard by the end of the set in the song's climactic fury. The band's progressive chord structures and strong rock base might have been a bit much for Cartel's pre-pubescent fanbase, but I thought it was a wonderful live show, and the band's few fans in attendance scattered about seemed to agree.
Set list (7:30-7:59):
- Atoms Smash
- Armed to the Teeth
- The Dreams -----
- The Clearing
- I Worship Raw Beats -----
- Snakes, Our Ground -----
- Trippin' the Life Fantastic
Set list (8:16-9:02):
- Thin Layer
- Bridge and Tunnel -----
- Far More
- Untouched and Intact -----
- Petals
- Everything I Once Had -----
- The City's Summer -----
- Stay Away -----
- Cats in Heat
- Stuck at Sea