Kevin Bronson on April 19th, 2010

0

Who: Sunny Day Real Estate at the Outdoor Theatre
In 3 or Fewer Words: Symphonies of dissonance.
I’ll Remember This Every Time I Hear a Current-Day Emo Band Because: Sunny Day Real Estate should be getting royalties from every one of ’em. In all the banter about Coachella reunions this year, SDRE’s seemed to come off as the least sexy – maybe because Pavement paved the way for a thousand bands critics love and SDRE inspired a thousand bands the hipsterati hates. Both bands carved out distinct ways to channel ’90s angst through inventive guitar work, Pavement known for its slacker irony and SDRE its arching sincerity. And there was plenty of the latter at Sunny Day’s tighter-than-a-fist set in the blistering sunshine. (“You can almost see the halo around Jeremy Enigk’s head,” a friend told me with wink.) “What a beautiful day to play sad songs,” Enigk told the very reverent crowd before he, William Goldsmith, Dan Hoerner and Nate Mendel played them beautifully. The four originals seemed to delight in breathing new life into the material from 1994’s “Diary,” and the crowd soaked it up. That “Diary,” after all, could very well have been their own.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was at Matt & Kim: You gotta be kidding me.
– K.B. Photo: Scott Dudelson