The Rapture, Out Hud & Beans

Traveling on the buses in San Francisco can be a little tricky at times. Especially when you're late and you've never taken a bus to the Great American Music Hall. On this particular night the jaded bus driver was not calling out the stops. It also didn't help that my eyes kept wandering to the back of the bus where some dudes were rapping, leaving me unable to watch for street signs.
After a brief discussion, the photographer and I decided to look for hip kids on the bus and get off when they did. It worked. Unfortunately we arrived a little too late for Beans performance. Sorry Beans.
As we entered, Out Hud was beginning their set. Out Hud shares three of their members with !!! (pronounced chk chk chk), the funkdafied lo-fi, New York City by way of Sacramento, California, dance party band. On the surface, Out Hud came across as a Nic Offer (!!!'s lead singer) side project. Offer played keyboards and sang on occasion but his obvious position in the band was to dance and get the crowd to do so as well. This wasn't working out too well. The crowd was moving slightly, and although some had uncrossed their arms or tapped their feet, there was no noticeable, out of control booty shaking. This seemed to disappoint Offer and, after announcing that he was from Sacramento and hearing someone laugh, he offered up a good-natured diss and quipped, "At least they dance in Sacramento!" Ouch. Sacramento one, San Francisco zero.
Aside from the disses and lack of booty shake, Out Hud put on a good show that kept the crowd attentive. Out Hud consisted of a cello, bass, keyboards, predominately female vocals and a drum machine. All of these came together to form a funky, electro house sound with a beat you can dance to. If I were walking down an alley after a night of drinking and I stumbled upon an all-night warehouse dance party, I wouldn't be surprised if I heard Out Hud on the turntable. Perhaps if I were feeling particularly saucy, I might even stop in for a moment to uncross my arms and tap my feet.
The Rapture originally formed in San Francisco nearly five years ago. Shortly after recording their first EP, Mirror they were seduced by the bright lights of New York City, leaving behind a saddened San Francisco. The show was definitely an anticipated homecoming felt by many for after Out Hud's set the venue quickly filled up with people trying to get closer to the stage.
The Rapture did not make the kids wait long. Soon enough they were on the stage and began tearing through their set. There was only so much they could do as a two-piece and after moving from San Francisco The Rapture added bassist Matt Safer and saxophonist/percussionist Gabe Andruzzi, giving The Rapture a fuller, more polished sound, kind of a modern version of Television or Gang of Four. However, The Rapture cannot simply be labeled as a rip-off band either. They have formed their own distinct sound that is all their own — a rocking dance party funk that you can shake your booty to.
The set consisted of songs from all of their releases with most of the songs coming from their newest LP, Echoes. No longer would San Francisco take a back seat to Sacramento on the dance floor. The whole audience was moving. Apparently someone danced their way out of their pants, suddenly a pair of briefs were thrown on stage and guitarist Luke Jenner quickly placed them over his head creating a tightie whitie underwear mask. The Rapture had the kids in a dance frenzy. Not only were their arms uncrossed, they were in the air. The kids weren't afraid to dance, and Jenner wasn't afraid of scabies. Things were all tied up — Sacramento one, San Francisco one.
– David Gordon
– Photos By Lania Cortez

Bookmark: