The Rapture at North Coast Music Festival | Photos and music review
It's weird to think about the Rapture as a vintage act, but given that the median age for a performer at North Coast is probably 23, the indie-dance originators do seem like dance-music elder statesmen in comparison. The fact that sax and synth man Garbriel Andruzzi looked like a member of the E Street Band in his jean jacket and light-wash denim only added to the perception. This isn't a knock. As part of New York's early dance rock scene in the late '90s and early 2000s, the Rapture has always led with its own tastes. For the North Coasties, this translated to opener "In the Grace of Your Love," the title track to the band's latest LP. Released early last year, it saw the group's reformation, return to DFA and signaled a brilliant new chapter in its career—one that's introducing it to a whole new fan base. It was clear from chatting with the folks around me that many of those queued up were unsure of who, exactly, the Rapture is. Putting them into a musical context alongside LCD Soundsystem seemed to brighten their eyes, and once the foursome started playing, anyone on the fence planted their feet. Well, planted until songs like "Get Yourself Into It" got them doing just that.
Compared with the Rapture's last Chicago appearance, the outfit delved deeper into its catalog, reintroducing past hits like "Killing" and "Whoo! Alright Yeah… Uh Huh" which led straight into the group's original breakout hit "House of Jealous Lovers." This didn't outweigh new material though. "Sail Away" led to cheers from people most familiar with the Rapture's more recent singles. With barely a "hi" mustered between the lot of them, lead singer Luke Jenner and company weren't much for crowd interaction. Jenner and his cohorts clearly preferred to let the music do the talking. At this stage in their careers, that's probably ok. Set closer "How Deep Is Your Love" has become such a huge hit—partially thanks to a big room remix from A-Trak—that a few in the crowd surely thought, 'oh, I love this song!' even if they didn't know whose song it was. They certainly do now.
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