Oh, let me count the ways: Death from above 1979 - Romantic Rights (Live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien)

Keeping up the trend of great videos featuring drummers that also sing and are therefore in the spotlight, it's time I showed some admiration for Death From Above 1979's performance of "Romantic Rights" on Late Night back in March 2005. Here's the link:

WARNING! DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR FACE NAPALMED BY ROCK MUSIC!!!

Now I'm not normally a fan of live performance videos on the internet because they sound terrible, the camerawork can induce nausea, and cell phones can't capture a concert's ambiance. However, I'll make an exception for this video. The performers kill it, the camerawork is professional, and the audience wasn't there to see Death From Above anyway so the only ambiance you're missing is sitting with overweight Midwesterners who are shifting uncomfortably while the band flips out onstage. Keeping that in mind, let me count the ways in which the video is awesome:

• Conan looks fresh-faced and not nearly as ghoulish as he does now
• The band only has two pieces (like the Inbreds!) but the sound is still full, which forces you to realize how overrated guitars are to a band's sound. The fact that the band is only a rhythm section with vocals on top means they get credit for degree of difficulty.
• I like the decision to replace the creaky intro found on the album. Instead the band comes out hard with an abrasive riff that is unrelated either melodically or by tempo to the rest of the song but sets the tone. Basically it says, "Hey! You! Conan viewer! Pay attention! 'Cause this isn't the Late Night laugh factory any more!"
• You never see the bassist's face clearly because of his Norville "Shaggy" Rogers haircut. You could watch this video ten times and not be able to pick the bassist's face out of a lineup of art history grad students. It's appropriate, though, that you cannot see his face because it symbolizes that he can't be pinned down musically either. First he does the banging intro, then he gives you two standard verse/chorus iterations, then he breaks the song down and rebuilds it from the 2-minute to the 2:45 mark before laying into the explosive finale. In short, the bassist carries a diverse song with an instrument that most musicians use to more or less keep the beat in the background.
• The singer/drummer's haircut may seem uncool now but in 2005 a low-key mohawk like that was still in style. It's like David Beckham's fauxhawk but with rougher edges.
• I talked about this last time with the Twin Shadow video, but it is so nice to be able to see the drumming clearly. Plus it's a live performance so the drumming you see actually matches up with the drumming you hear.
• The singer/drummer is so skinny to start with then he puts on tight pants (remember this is 2005 so you can't accuse him of being a hipster johnny-come-lately) and stands as vertically as possible with his legs flush and his arm straight over his head. Also, his socks are pulled up high over top of his jeans which is like throwing a hot dog at Tiger Woods; it's a strong statement but no one is really sure what it means. (Topical Reference! 10 Points!)
• Have to mention the lyrics: they are not great (or even coherent most of the time) but they are delivered with that tone of menacing sexuality that I love.
• As far as the vocals are concerned, I would be remiss if I didn't point out how magnificently the drummer/signer transitions from singing to screaming the same note.
• Obvious highlight: Late Night in-house and E-Street Band drummer Max Weinberg sprinting across the stage to join the band for the finale and not quite making it on time. Talk shows are a volume business (as Conan would say) and so the band probably did not practice that entrance with Max very much. I expect they ran over it once in rehearsal and then had Max listen to the song a couple times before shooting. Who cares, though, because it only added drama to the performance and good on the band for not letting it throw them off.
• I love the fact that Max feels he *has* to take off his suit jacket before he can play and when this delays him further he tries to take off his suit jacket and play the drums at the same time. He normally plays drums on the show in a full suit so I don't know why he took off his jacket in this situation. Maybe he felt he needed to be unrestricted to play this energetic song? Or maybe he was just trying to fit in a little more sartorially?
• Max doesn't always arrive on time, but once he is there he is super entertaining to watch. I love the contrast between Max's demeanour and that of the band: Max looks so happy to be there while two members of the band look like they drank a mickey to get over breaking up with their high school sweetheart.
• This video also provides an interesting contrast in drumming styles: First, Max uses the traditional grip with his left-hand turned upside-down while the singer uses a matched grip. Second, Max is less chained to the tempo compared to the signer; he will throw down an accelerated fill and then pause for a split-second to let the rest of the band catch up. Third, Max just uses more and longer fills. I think it's because he is a better drummer and he doesn't have to sing so can do a lot more with the same role.
• I give Max props for not letting a foreign drum-set screw him up. When you are drumming you don't have time to think carefully about where you are going next so you have to rely on muscle memory to hit your targets. The drum-set in the video must be a little bit different from what Max normally plays on the show but it doesn't seem to throw him off for a second.
• Did I mention the singer is a Canadian wearing an American flag neckerchief?

I only wish the video was louder.

P.S. No thanks to NBC/Universal/GE/Kabletown/whoever owns the rights for Conan's old Late Night clips these days for keeping this video off youtube so I couldn't embed it.