Thirty years after their first release, over fifteen years after their incredible album run in the late 90s and 00s, and nearly a decade after their last record, Blonde Redhead made a remarkable return to form with their 2023 album Sit Down for Dinner. This contributed to the fact that the excitement for last week’s Pumpehuset concert was not only about seeing a band you liked twenty years ago but also about seeing a band that has recently released a record that stands comfortably next to their best-known releases. As last week's show proved, Kazu Makino and the Pace twins seem to be well aware of this.
After their subdued entrance on stage, they went straight into not one, not two, but three tracks from Misery Is a Butterfly and one from 23 before finally launching into Sit Down for Dinner's lead single “Snowman”. As it would become clear by the end of the show, the entire setlist was focused on these three albums, with the old goodie “Bipolar” added to the encore. The thing is, though, that classics like “Falling Man” and “Elephant Woman” didn't just serve the function of appeasing the old fans; they provided a fitting context for the band's new material.
Much like their now-classic 2004 album, Sit Down for Dinner wraps introspective, if slightly esoteric, lyrics in lush textures and dreamy atmospheres. This time, however, the icy synths sound a little warmer, almost inviting, as the songs pose low-key existential questions about love and loss albeit in a calm way that can only come from life experience. Although Blonde Redhead’s songs are still as slightly opaque as ever, there is something about the confidence of delivery and the maturity of the issues addressed that makes the protagonists seem at peace with themselves and the songs sound comforting rather than distressed.
This came across in the live show, as the trio looked and sounded as commanding as ever. Adopting the structure of many of Blonde Redhead's songs, the set took its time to unfold, letting go of constraint at just the right moments, always striking a perfect balance between soft and hard, energetic and restrained.
Before the show, my concert buddy and I discussed some recent live show experiences and concluded that the best thing the artist(s) can do is ignore the perceived expectations of the fans and cherry-pick their catalog for what works best with their new material, rather than just playing what they know everyone wants to hear.
Blonde Redhead proved that with some magical thinking, you can do both: put together an airtight setlist that provides the perfect context for your latest record AND deliver some bangers along the way. For example, they waited almost until the end of the set to play “23,” but having it follow a string of songs that included the new record's title tracks, “Maddening Cloud” and “Spring and by Summer Fall” made it feel even more explosive. The new ballads that followed also held their own, showing how well this material fits in with Blonde Redhead's career highlights.
In all honesty, while I had expected a good show, I did not expect to have this much fun at a Blonde Redhead concert in the year of the Lord 2024. And they seemed to have a blast as well. Perhaps it's this preoccupation with the impermanence of life that has brought a new urgency to Blonde Redhead's sound because the band seems to practice what they preach. The title of Sit Down for Dinner and the second part of the title track borrow their simple yet arresting central image from Joan Didion's meditation on grief, The Year of Magical Thinking: “You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.” And if you can't choose the way you go, at least you can make sure to stay on top of your game, leaving little to regret – should life as you know it come to an abrupt end.
Photo: Liam Amner