If you want to see a great indie rock band in Buffalo, consider sleeping on the steps of the Mohawk Place. On top of bringing bands like the White Stripes, the Mooney Suzuki and Dismemberment Plan to Buffalo before they ever caught on, owner Marty Boratin has now shown us the incomparable Pedro the Lion.
After multiple full band and line-up changes, Pedro the Lion now lies in the very capable hands of project originator David Bazan. Armed with previous releases off the labels Tooth and Nail as well as Made in Miasma, and with his newest work, "Control" (thriving on the mighty Jade Tree Records), Bazan took the stage of the 'Hawk last Tuesday evening, bringing a nice dish of rock to pass around.
After Burnt Toast Vinyl's Scientific and Seldom played well-received opening sets, Bazan took the stage in a black T-shirt. He delivered a few inaudible words to his audience, before becoming a heartfelt conveyor of emotion, both dark and light. He isn't a dancer, but his stage presence gets across what needs to be delivered through his random hip shaking and the intense placement on certain words and chords. Already packed, the density of the Mohawk Place's crowd increased as Pedro the Lion made sure every moment was filled with thick, fulfilling, affecting sound.
It is necessary to understand that the 10-song "Control" is essentially a story about the love between a man and his wife who are so driven to not divorce each other that in time, the wife stabs the husband repeatedly during a heated argument. The set, which lasted a little over an hour, was filled with raw emotion and the meaning of the work struck with haunting efficiency. "Options" told of the husband walking on the beach with his wife thinking he could never divorce her, only to say, "so I told her I loved her/ and she told me she loved me/ and I mostly believed her/ and she mostly believed me." These words cut like a knife (no pun intended), leaving unsure shivers and an uneasy air in the audience.
Other songs, like "Rapture" and "Indian Summer," detailed the ups and downs of a relationship moving towards completion while reflecting on better days.
The most effective songs were the chilling ones towards the end of the set.
The crowd remained aware and focused during "Rehearsal," a song that details the husband's knowledge of his wife's infidelity and his plans to extract revenge. His opening words were leveled on the audience like a punch to the throat accompanied by driving, crunchy, dark guitars.
"Revenge" goes on to paint the mind with pictures of deceit and diatribes on the human id: "I see I did not the know the half of what hatred and revenge were all about/ and I guess I could be bigger/ but I'd rather make you pay, darling."
Bazan ended the show with two impacting, droning songs, "Second Best" and "Priests and Paramedics." The former spoke of "desperate attempts to fan the flame without the fire," and other denials of a marriage gone bad. Bazan's face and voice became pasted with emotion as he told the story and only became more fervent as he sang of the paramedics lying to the husband, telling him he would be okay as he is strapped into the gurney and loaded into the ambulance.
What is most interesting about Pedro the Lion is that they strike early and often, without screaming or whining. They're one of few bands that can make that claim.
As the crowd filed out into the Buffalo night, the cold air seemed to strike a little harder than usual for October. Pedro the Lion had just unleashed a fury of emotions and music that the people were beginning to digest and put into words. Funny thing is, the most frequent word heard was simple: "Wow."
