The Handcuffs: 6-16-11 at Millennium Park

Concert Review

The Handcuffs
June 16, 2011 @ Millennium Park
By Dave Miller

The Handcuffs tipped their hand during their concert at Millennium Park and I'm not talking about being able to steal a look at it in the reflection of the nearby Bean. The tell about how much they think about their upcoming album came in the songs they chose to play in their power-packed, hourlong set.

More than half of the songs, eight of 15 to be exact, were new ones from their soon-to-be-released Waiting for the Robot. That the “Party in the Park” show was fully realized from start to finish on a beautiful summer evening Thursday turned out to be the first review of their third album. The Handcuffs broke the unwritten rules of setlist construction by opening with two new songs, “Come on Venus” and “Miss You On Tuesday.” They both worked. “We all need someone,” Chloe F. Orwell sang in the opener over a chugging beat supplied by her husband, drummer Brad Elvis, and bassist Emily Togni. “Miss You On Tuesday” built on the first number’s theme of connection as Orwell delivered shining vocals.

Elvis brought the big beat and Orwell the swaggering singing on the familiar “I Just Wanna Be Free, Man,” a song from the band’s second album, Electroluv. Another new one, a hypnotic, spiraling “Kiss This Goodbye,” came next followed by the go-go, psychedelia of “Can’t Get the Girl (Without the Good Stuff, Baby)” from the band’s 2006 debut, Model for a Revolution.

The Handcuffs didn’t tone down their show in the relative tranquil setting of the park. They brought the rock and drowned out the rush hour traffic on Michigan Avenue that was only steps from the stage like they were looking to scrap with the city’s skyscrapers. Elvis was reminiscent of Keith Moon in both the way he attacked the drums and for his comic playfulness behind the kit. He exudes a rock esthetic in anything he does onstage and probably anything he does off it, too, including I suspect even when eating Cheerios for breakfast. Orwell is a captivating lead singer who projects a contagious, fun energy. Togni played the role of non-plussed bassist while grooving deeply with Elvis. Ellis Clark interjected guitar slices and raged on “Vinyl Isabella.” Newly-added Alison Hinderliter, who also plays with Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, contributed colors with her keyboard.

The band gave coveraholics a pair of well-chosen fixes with Pulp’s “Common People” and Mott the Hoople’s “All the Way from Memphis.” Orwell referenced her own band’s previously-played “I Just Wanna Be Free, Man” at the end of the new “Dirty Glitter.” Elvis threw in a “Pictures of Lily” beat during the crowd-participatory “Gotta’ Problem with Me?” “Jet Baby” ended the show with a big finish. Can’t wait to hear when the band officially shows their new hand.

The setlist:

Come On Venus
Miss You On Tuesday
I Just Wanna’ Be Free, Man
Kiss This Goodbye
Can’t Get the Girl (Without the Good Stuff, Baby)
First Class Bossa Nova
Ooh Baby Baby
Common People
Vinyl Isabella
Everybody Waves Hello
Dirty Glitter
Eight Down
All the Way from Memphis
Gotta’ Problem with Me?
Jet Baby

Start: 5:31 p.m./Finish: 6:35 p.m.
Totals: 15 songs, one hour and four minutes