The Dandy Warhols, in concert for a Sunday night. Recorded live at The Metro in Chicago on December 16, 2000.
The Dandy Warhols were formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994 by Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Peter Holmström. Soon after, drummer Eric Hedford joined, and, following an unsuccessful experiment with Taylor-Taylor’s girlfriend on bass guitar, Zia McCabe joined the band as keyboardist after Taylor-Taylor saw her working in a coffeehouse. Taylor-Taylor described the band’s beginning as a group of friends who “needed music to drink to”.
Early on in their career, The Dandy Warhols performed in bars throughout Portland and became well known for their nudity-filled live shows. At their first gig in 1994, they were approached by record label Tim/Kerr, who offered to pay for the recording of an album. The result was 1995’s Dandys Rule OK. Musically, Dandys Rule OK combined elements of 1960s garage rock, the then-popular Britpop genre, and a shoegaze approach.
In 2000, the band released their third studio album, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. It was a critical and commercial success, due mainly to the single “Bohemian Like You” being featured in a popular Vodafone advertisement as well as on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The song has also been featured in the animated movie Flushed Away in a chase scene, and on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for the film Igby Goes Down.
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia featured a less overdriven sound, with less overt psychedelia and more stylings in common with the power pop genre.
Around this time, Taylor-Taylor took out a loan to acquire an industrial warehouse space in northwest Portland, dubbed “The Odditorium” and occupying a quarter city block. The Odditorium is the band’s eclectic rehearsal space and recording and mixing studio. It also serves as an art space and clubhouse for parties and other events. It opened on November 15, 2001.
To get an idea what they were up to around this time (2000), here is that concert, live from The Metro in Chicago, on October 16, 2000.
Crank it up and get ready for the week. It should be interesting.
