Even months after the show announcement, I still have a hard time believing that I’ll be seeing Unknown Mortal Orchestra at The Frequency tomorrow. For some groups in their sophomore years, Madison’s such a weird city that way — sometimes we get the last opportunity to see bands here in the sort of venues that they’ll never play again.
It’s seriously gonna be hard to fold all the infectious layers of reverb the band churns out into one of Madison’s more intimate stages. But then again maybe it’s best this way; there’s something secretive about The Frequency that might fit the mysterious music of Unknown Mortal Orchestra better than any other Madison venue.
It’s been a fast rise for these guys after all since they quietly posted the shimmering summer-bounce of “Ffunny Ffrends” on an otherwise nameless Bandcamp page only a little more than three years ago. Two across-the-board critically respected self-titled albums later (these guys really under-sell themselves but the music does more than speak for them), and here we are.
Yes, a lovely hole in the wall just off the square — one noisy enough to make show-conversations difficult (“I HOPE THEY HAVE COOL MERCH!” yelled into a companion’s ear) while inviting enough to take a second or third date to — will be just the right place to hear Unknown Mortal Orchestra lay out their pedal arrays and really open up on a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.
If we’re lucky they might just play their impeccable cover of “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” which would be more than apt since they’ll be within sight of where Otis Redding’s plane crashed that fateful December night.
The opener, Geneva, IL’s Fargo, is a perfect match for an autumn evening of meticulously prepared indie rock.