Live Reviews

Tempera and Citadel

SPACE Gallery, November 20, 2006

By IAN PAIGE | November 29, 2006

CITADEL

Saturday night at SPACE Gallery was packed with Portland locals and holiday visitors to see a lineup comprised of entirely homegrown acts, including the already-lauded-in-this-column Cult Maze, so let’s focus on the other fresh faces of the evening.

Tempera opened the evening with a set of intricate sonic arrangements that leave room for a lot of human warmth in between the pedal pushing and knob twiddling. The audience reverently sat down as Nicholas Barker, Bobby Martin, and Corinna Marshall began spinning out guitar and vocal loops with gestures of birdsongs on recorders.

The band have a playful quality that might make you think of Animal Collective, but with a loving patience more akin to fellow Portlanders in Seekonk or to Yo La Tengo at their most instrumentally beautiful.

The only two available expressions to choose from for Citadel’s set seemed to be jaw-dropping to the floor or smiling ear-to-ear. Barry Burst, Ben Gatchell, and new drummer Ethan Boardman rocked their signature brand of psychedelia and soul so hard that it created a truly rare rock-show moment where audience and performers alike were swept away by the energy.

Citadel create an amalgam of golden-era garage rock and psych rock but with rhythmic changeups that recall Motown and early funk. Barry Burst’s voice is a powerful lovechild of Donovan, Mick Jagger, and Jack Bruce. The newer songs feature mature songwriting that bounces from part to part without ever falling prey to prog-rock noodling. Citadel are all about energy, and they never let you down.

If you missed the show, Tempera play again December 15 at SPACE and Citadel play Geno’s November 30. If you did see the show, you most likely already plan on catching them again.