Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

No grand opening at ragged Pete Yorn show

It's not often a concert loses a ratings star before it even begins.

Yet that's what happened Saturday night at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, through no fault of headliner Pete Yorn's.

It was one of Yorn's support acts -- Modesto, Calif., quintet Grandaddy -- which put a damper on a promising indie rock showcase.

Expected to be the second of Yorn's two opening bands, Grandaddy was instead a last-minute no-show. A couple of disappointed fans expressed their dismay over that turn of events, wistfully baying out "Graaandaaaddy" at quiet points during the show.

Crew members who had been on tour with Grandaddy offered several explanations: The band might have jetted off to Europe, stayed in Los Angeles to film a television appearance or halted touring because of a shoulder injury suffered by guitarist Jim Fairchild in a freak bus accident in Phoenix. The latter seemed most doubtful as the cause, considering Grandaddy played Los Angeles Thursday and Friday.

Regardless, Grandaddy's absence had a more negative impact on Saturday's show than one might have imagined. Not only did it deprive locals from hearing one of the genre's top live acts, it also had a ripple effect on the rest of the evening.

It meant the other support act, Los Angeles quartet Year of the Rabbit, played a lengthy 45-minute set in lieu of the shorter slot allotted to them in the original three-act configuration.

That was about 20 minutes too long, as Year of the Rabbit did little to distinguish itself from much of the other guitar-drive indie sludge on the scene today.

Later the revised schedule resulted in a lengthy 45-minute break between Year of the Rabbit's exit and Yorn's entrance. Rather than adapt to the switch and go on early, Yorn waited until 10 p.m. to hit the stage, to the exasperation of fans who'd been waiting since the doors opened at 7.

As for Yorn's show, the 28-year-old's 80-minute performance was a lot like his two albums: pleasant, but nothing extraordinary.

If you listen to modern rock radio, you're probably familiar with Yorn's biggest hit, last year's "Strange Condition." You might also have run across his contributions to the "Spider-Man," "Me, Myself & Irene" and "Dawson's Creek" soundtracks, or his latest single, "Come Back Home."

Problem is, if you've heard those tracks, you've basically heard all Yorn has to offer: lyrically dominated songs that generally sound fairly similar.

That was certainly the case Saturday night, as many of his 19 selections tended to blend, with few truly standing out.

One notable exception was "Carlos (Don't Let It Go to Your Head)" off Yorn's second album, "Day I Forgot." The song bucked its singer/songwriter's typical formula by laying down a harder groove -- courtesy of backing band Dirty Bird -- over which Yorn growled with an edginess missing most of the night.

Most of the time, when Yorn tried to sound tough, he turned into an Eddie Vedder clone, singing through gritted teeth as he gripped the microphone with both hands. But Yorn seemed far more comfortable as the nice guy next door than the angstful rocker.

"I've been wanting to play here for like five years, so I'm so excited to be here," a gushing Yorn announced at one point.

Two of Yorn's best numbers, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and "She Bangs the Drum," were actually covers by the Ramones and the Stone Roses, respectively.

On three other occasions, he sang the intros to other well-known songs -- Bruce Springsteen's "Brilliant Disguise" and "Racing in the Street" and the Cure's "In-Between Days" -- only to stop cold each time and begin playing one of his own compositions.

Clearly, some of Yorn's popularity can be attributed to his sex appeal. Many of the women in attendance showed their approval of his chiseled facial features, tanned biceps and shaggy shoulder-length hair by showering him with Beatle-esque screams on several occasions.

When Yorn descended into the crowd during his final number, "Murray," some of his female fans even ran their fingers through his curls, a bizarre ending to a very strange night.

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