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June 13, 1999

Saint Etienne: Seattle, Showbox Theatre, May 30; Vancouver, Richard's, May 31; San Francisco, Fillmore, June 2

How to describe Saint Etienne - sophisticated pop? Heartfelt techno? It's a question even the band's singer Sarah Cracknell has difficulty answering. "Oh, my ... there's everything from 60's pop to 70's disco to 90's dance... it's all over the place really!" Whatever you want to call it, they do it well.

Recently, Saint Etienne brought their unique sound to America on a 14-date tour promoting their latest releases on Subpop, 1998's Good Humor LP and this year's Places To Visit EP. Only the second North American tour in the band's nine year existence, there was some question as to how the heavily-produced songs would translate into a live show. Check This Out! caught the band on three of its West Coast dates to find out.

Cracknell swaying her hips

photo - Tara Nicole Widmer

Sunday, May 30, and the Showbox theatre in Seattle is filled with ecstatic Etienne fans from every avenue of life. Dance music remix-completists, pseudo-mods, indie record store devotees and even a hardcore group from Etienne's fanclub are all wildly cheering as the band collects onstage. They launch the show with the Dusty Springfield-inspired love tune "Nothing Can Stop Us", and Sarah slinks into place behind the microphone just in time to coo the first line: "I've come a long way since the day you walked into my life." And with that, the crowd is sold.

Although normally a trio, with keyboardists Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley working alongside Cracknell on the albums, the band expands to a 7-piece line-up while on tour. Notably, Stanley chooses not to perform live. ("He just doesn't enjoy it," Cracknell simply explains.) Gerard Johnson ably replaces Stanley on synth duties, and together the entire band is able to effortlessly recreate the flawless sound from the albums. And from all appearances, have fun doing it.

Dressed in a black beaded halter top, Sarah shimmies through the next song,"Lose That Girl," while her blonde backup singers Charlotte Hodson and Mitch Stevenson bounce playfully in the background. Throughout the show, the ebullient backup chanteuses provide constant entertainment, linking arms for a can-can dance here, or pogoing excitedly to a disco number there. Meanwhile, the excellent backup musicians exchange encouraging smiles and the entire group seem just as excited as the people watching them are.

The majority of the night's set is culled from recent releases, with a few older "greatest hits" tunes towards the end, but a surprise comes in the form of a performance of "Sushi Rider" from the fanclub-only release I Love To Paint. The song may not be familiar to all fans, as the album is not easily available (and unfortunately, the band insist there are no plans for a re-issue) but in concert "Sushi Rider" is sweet, lulling respite from the upbeat pop of the other tunes.

An enthusiastic Pete Wiggs

photo - Tara Nicole Widmer

Perhaps due to the quick transition between songs, there is little audience interaction or between song commentary. However, Sarah notes "This is a song about adultery" before beginning girl-done-wrong ballad "Postman." Prior to the feather-boas-in-the-air dance number "Sylvie" she announces "This one's for all the disco dollies in the audience!" It's all the encouragement that is needed, and soon arms are in the air and hips shaking - all that's missing is a revolving mirrored ball!

Saved for last is the inexplicably popular Eurocheese anthem "He's On The Phone." Then, in a flurry of flashing colored lights and deafening cheers, the band is gone. It's not long before they are cheered back for an encore, performing three songs, a peculiar selection including two ballads ("Sadie's Anniversary" and "Avenue") and the delightfully breezy "Spring."

When later asked to compare this tour to Saint Etienne's previous North American jaunt last December, Wiggs seemed surprised by the band's growing popularity. "It seems as though more people are coming out this time round, said Wiggs. "We're playing larger venues, I think perhaps people who aren't as familiar with the band are coming along, as well."

Wiggs did not seem to find it difficult to play live without Stanley. "Even when we first started he wasn't into touring or performing live as much, so we're quite used to it and able to make it work, " said Wiggs. "Actually, " Pete laughs, "I just spoke with his this morning, and he's gotten sick, so it's just as well he's not here!"

The following night's gig in Vancouver is in the smaller, more intimate pub-like venue called Richard's, with a stage barely large enough to accommodate the entire band. An obvious treat for those who have traveled from other cities to see the show - including two particularly avid fans who have made the long, 27-hour car journey from Minneapolis specifically for the concert. (When Sarah hears this later she's surprised. "Our English fans aren't really like that. We can't get them to drive 6 hours to see another show!" she laughs.) But in general, the enthusiasm of the crowd is similarly downsized, and even the band seem more laid-back compared to the Seattle concert.

Sarah, this time in a white beaded halter top, looks slightly knackered and endures a bit of frustration with feedback from her microphone during the third song, "Hug My Soul." Later, similar technical problems require the band to restart a song. Aside from these technical interferences, the show ambles pleasantly along. The audience reaction may be more subdued, but the setlist and between song banter is eerily similar to the previous night's. Sarah introduces "A song about adultery" prior to "Postman", and when she dedicates "the next number to all the disco dollies in the audience!" it suddenly feels like The Twilight Zone. The only change is halfway through, with a funky performance of "Split Screen" and then the dreamy b-side "4:35 in the Morning." Three early tunes, "Hobart Paving", "Spring" and "People Get Real" are performed during the encore.

Two days later, and San Francisco's cavernous Fillmore auditorium is sold out and brimming with an energetic audience. An hour before show time the crowd is thick around the stage, and the band is greeted with rapturous cheers when they take their places. With the perennial starter "Nothing Can Stop Us," there is already a noticeable change in the band's demeanor and attitude. Before long, Pete is dancing around his keyboards, and the backup singers abandon their platform behind Sarah to join him. In the audience is a group who takes things a bit far, pogoing fiercely at any indication of a disco beat, and by the end of the show they are slam dancing into each other.

It's all going quite well until... "This next one is a song about adultery," Sarah proclaims, and predictably the plaintive opening notes of "Postman" ring out. By the time the "disco dollies" prelude to the 12th song "Sylvie" comes, they've performed the exact same set as in Seattle. Suddenly, as exciting as it had been the first time, the scene is becoming routine and the gnawing feeling persists of watching the same movie several times in succession. Four albums and countless miscellaneous releases later, what is the reasoning behind performing the same 15 songs each night?

While Sarah did not elaborate on why there was such little variation between setlists, she maintains that it is not really difficult to adapt those songs they do wish to perform to a live environment. "It's not a matter of not being able to play any particular songs live," said Cracknell. "There's a good representation of work there. After all, we do a few of the older singles, b-sides and some newer stuff."

It's true that each night at least one song from the new EP Places To Visit was performed. "We're In The City" - the only obvious single from the otherwise vaguely ambient album - was greeted with appreciative cheers at each performance, and sounded fantastic live. However, it remains a disappointment that a band with such an extensive body of work should restrict itself to performing a limited list of songs. This was the first opportunity for many fans to see the band live, and many older favorites were missing from the set. Indeed, even those who were fortunate enough to catch the band during their five-date blink-and-you'll-miss-it tour in December saw very little difference between the shows performed then and now.

At the end of it all, Saint Etienne are great fun to see live... once, anyway.

Tara Nicole Widmer

SETLISTS

Seattle
Nothing Can Stop Us
Lose That Girl
Hug My Soul
Goodnight Jack
In The City
Postman
Erica America
Been So Long
Hit The Brakes
The Bad Photographer
Sushi Rider
Sylvie
Like A Motorway
He's On The Phone
encore: Sadie's Wedding
Spring
Avenue

Vancouver
Nothing Can Stop Us
Lose That Girl
Hug My Soul
Goodnight Jack
In The City
Postman
Erica America
Been So Long
Split Screen
Hit The Brakes
The Bad Photographer
4:35 in the Morning
Sylvie
Like A Motorway
He's On The Phone
encore:
Hobart Paving
Spring
People Get Real