SFist Reviews: Camera Obscura @ the Fillmore
by Moses Namkung
Clad in a black dress with a black bow pinned in her hair, lead singer Tracyanne Campbell exuded melancholy the entire evening. In fact, much of Camera Obscura, with perhaps the exception of keyboardist Carey Lander, seemed uninterested; maybe it was just another day at work for them, being part of a backing band and playing the Fillmore, ho hum.
We once spent a remarkably gray, cloudy summer in the band's hometown of Glasgow, so the depressed collective demeanor wasn't altogether surprising - maybe their stage presence (um, if you can call it that) was just a representation of Glaswegian spirit. Unlike their postcard-perfect Scottish neighbor Edinburgh, Glasgow doesn't have a castle, spectacular landmarks or vistas, or an overabundance of tourist appeal. The city's economy, previously centered around shipbuilding and industrial works, has gone through a rough transformation and the city has experienced high unemployment, drug usage and alcoholism.
But through all of its recent struggles and travails, the resilient character of the city quietly shines. And for the past few decades, Glasgow has nurtured an excellent music scene that has given birth to, among other acts, Belle & Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub. Last night, the best pop songs Camera Obscura had to offer, such as "French Navy", "If Looks Could Kill" and the first encore of the set, "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken", meshed neatly with this rich Scottish indie lineage and as each of those songs started up, we started to get hopeful that the general atmosphere within the Fillmore would lift.
Yet slow ballads such as "Tears For Affairs", while legitimately beautiful, made us think Camera Obscura would be better suited for more intimate venues. In the middle of "Books Written For Girls", audience members felt it necessary to hoot and holler to fill up aural space during long, quiet musical interludes. And then we felt guilty for questioning whether we would have been better off listening to their records in our living room.
For more images of Camera Obsucra's Fillmore performance, go here.