Head of Femur
Habana Calle 6, Friday, March 17
From the back of the room, Matt Focht and Mike Elsener, the two frontmen for Chicago’s Head of Femur, are easily doppelgangers for Trey Anastasio and Wayne Coyne. And in a weird way, it’s not a bad starting intersection for the band. Not that they sound like either particularly, but something about the combination isn’t far off. They’re definitely Rubber So(u)ldiers, and they could mail a taped copy of their SXSW 06 set in for their Elephant 6 application. It’s post-hippie hip, but more center than left of center. They did toss in a near-poifect cover of Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes.” That was actually the Emeril moment where they – pow! – kicked it up a notch. They were certainly better than the audience, or at least deserved a better audience. Seventy-something hours into this, a good chunk of festivalers need to be blown a second wind, and the accelerated strum of “Elliott Gould Is in California Split” probably should’ve been enough to jump-start the crowd. If nothing else, they gave enough to where anyone on the in/out fence should’ve fallen on the side of the former. Don’t think the effort went unnoticed. It just might take a little while for our bodies to catch up enough to show appreciation.This article appears in March 17 • 2006.