Live Review: Fog, Northfield, MN (The Cave)

Download: Fog - "We Will Have Vanished"
Download: Fog - "You Did What You Thought"

Guess what I'm not going to do in this review? Make weather puns.

OK, just one: Friday night in Northfield sure was foggy. I caught the Minneapolis homeboys at Carleton College on Friday, and they pretty much destroyed. The show started almost two hours late because of God knows what kind of fuckery at the venue. Not only that, but the show had a poor turn out due to the fact that both the colleges in town are on break.

But Fog just got up there and rocked it anyway. I saw the guys out in their cars before the show, and they didn't seem too happy about the delay. And I respect the hell out of the fact that they didn't get up and half-ass it and run off, they actually put up a really good show.

Until last year, Fog was just front man Andrew Broder and some turntables, electronics and guest stars. This year's release of Ditherer marked the debut of a new, full-band Fog.

And the new Fog is awesome. If you haven't heard Ditherer, you should pick up a copy. It's one of my favorite releases of this year. I went into the show not knowing how the group would balance their current sound with Broder's past efforts. I think they did it beautifully. Sticking mostly to material off Ditherer, the show was more-or-less straight up rock. Fog varied between having the epic feel of Low and a more classic rock stamp, but there are always hints of a more electronic past hiding in the flourishes and details.

And the guys were hilarious. I go back and forth between loving the intimacy of the really tiny (read: 20 some people) shows and hating them for their tendency to turn into make-out sessions and ridiculously showboaty dance-offs. But Friday had a great crowd, and the group interacted with the audience like they were just chilling in someone's basement rather than playing a delayed show with a poor turnout.

Tour dates are below, and I highly recommend hitting a show near you.

10.17 Cat’s Cradle, Carborro, North Carolina
10.18 Black Cat, Washington, DC
10.19 First Unitarian, Philadelphia
10.20 Gramercy Theatre, New York City
10.21 Polish Club, Poughkeepsie, New York
10.22 Trinity on Main, New Britain
10.23 Middle East, Cambridge, Massachusetts
10.26 Showplace Theatre, Buffalo, New York
10.27 Empty Bottle, Chicago
10.28 Picador, Iowa City
10.29 Pops, Sauget, Illinois
10.30 Bottleneck, Lawrence, Kansas
11.2 Dusty Bookshelf, Manhattan, Kansas
11.3 Rubber Gloves, Denton, Texas
11.4 Proletariat, Houston
11.6 Mohawk, Austin
11.8 Modified Arts, Phoenix
11.9 Spaceland, Los Angeles
11.10 Steynberg Gallery, San Luis Obispo
11.11 Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco
11.13 Holocene, Portland
11.14 Crocodile Café, Seattle
11.15 Neurolux, Boise
11.16 Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City
11.17 Trilogy Winebar, Boulder
12.7 Turf Club, St. Paul

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(April Wright)