Photo credits: Alexander Jibaja<\/p>\n
Review by Robin Sheng<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chicago indie-rock band Friko delivered a passionate and fantastically emotion-charged performance at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass. on March 8. Known for their emotionally sincere and sonically eclectic style of music, Friko released their debut album \u201cWhere We\u2019ve Been, Where Do We Go From Here\u201d last February to significant critical acclaim. After more than a year has passed since the debut album\u2019s release, which has broadened their audience from their local Chicago scene to the wider indie music world at large, the band is moving into new dimensions. Having confirmed that they are currently working on another album, Friko played several unreleased songs at the concert that will be likely found in their next record.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After opener Starcleaner Reunion established an intriguing atmosphere with a somewhat stylistically diverse setlist, Friko took the stage by storm. Their performance at The Sinclair was first and foremost overwhelmed with visceral passion and intense emotion. On \u201cCrimson to Chrome,\u201d lead singer Niko Kapetan adequately balanced power and delicacy in his vocal delivery while mixing in sporadic yelps that established a charmingly raw quality for the performance. \u201cStatues\u201d is another song that exemplifies the band\u2019s emotional strengths. The final section of the performance featured the inclusion of all instrumental layers at once, ending with visceral screams from Kapetan that felt emotionally cathartic in every way possible. The emotional expressiveness of Friko\u2019s music was further complemented by the lead singer\u2019s energetic and idiosyncratic stage presence. During \u201cCrimson to Chrome,\u201d for instance, Kapetan moved frantically across the stage, sometimes seemingly on the verge of collapsing, only to rise in full strength again. The lead singer\u2019s physical rises and falls were a perfect accompaniment for the song\u2019s lyrical themes concerning emotional contradictions, providing a brilliant visual representation of the band\u2019s ethos.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While Friko certainly leaned into their most visceral instincts through their performance with great success, they also maintained their established strength of cohesive arrangements as a band. One particularly impressive aspect of the band\u2019s performance was their aptitude at utilizing drastic shifts in dynamics. The song \u201cChemical,\u201d for example, featured a moment of sudden stopping and restarting that evoked a shocking sensation, a moment that was established by the band\u2019s meticulous handling of complex rhythms during the chorus section. \u201cWhere We\u2019ve Been,\u201d a song highly reliant on layering and rising progressions, was further refined in the live setting. Additional atmospheric layers not found in the studio version created an even tenser build-up to the song\u2019s explosive chorus, enhancing the definitive feeling of the song.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of course, Friko is not only about their louder moments. Calmer and more stripped-down tracks were appropriately sequenced throughout the concert between noisier songs, all of which were also performed with great care. \u201cCardinal,\u201d for example, felt even more confessional and intimate in the live setting. While Kapetan did struggle a bit at reaching the difficult high note during the song\u2019s choruses, his charisma and emotional resonance as a performer made it almost unnoticed, earning significant applause from the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The unreleased songs performed by the band further demonstrated their capabilities at accentuating distinct strengths while also continuing their stylistic evolution. The concert\u2019s opening song, \u201cGuess,\u201d notably played even more significantly into quiet-loud dynamics, as the band delivered a fantastic explosive chorus after several verses of minimal guitar strums and intimate vocals. \u201cDirty Diamond\u201d took the band\u2019s intensity to further heights, resulting in a manic and anxious performance that perfectly captured a feeling of emotional desperation. Its use of angular guitars accompanied by messy and yet entirely resonant screams was particularly instrumental in the portrayal of such emotions. Friko ended the concert with \u201cDear Bicycle,\u201d a song that the band introduced to the audience as the likely closer of their next record. In addition to the song\u2019s unique melody and intimate atmosphere that grasped the audience, its slower tempo and ascending intensity further served as a suitable closing note for the concert. As Kapetan intricately and sincerely delivers the line \u201cOh to be a bicycle,\u201d one is inclined to be reminded once more that the essence of live music is emotional resonance, a quality that Friko embodied in every way throughout their performance.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credits: Alexander Jibaja Review by Robin Sheng \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chicago indie-rock band Friko delivered a passionate and fantastically emotion-charged performance at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass. on March 8. Known for their emotionally sincere and sonically eclectic style of music, Friko released their debut album \u201cWhere We\u2019ve Been, Where Do We Go From Here\u201d last February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21925,"featured_media":47204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[2321,126],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21925"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47205,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47203\/revisions\/47205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}