The Rapture Hits Orlando Last Thursday, the ultra-hip postpunk revival (sorry, indie-dance) band The Rapture descended upon Orlando to spread their gospel at Saturday/Thursday. Under the Influence of Giants opened the show, and after a few moments of hearing them I wrote this next sentence in my head which they failed to prove wrong: UtIoG had the sound of your typical new millennium indie band: the same bassline and backbeat for each song, dreamy guitars drifting overtop, and a falsetto singer trying desperately to woo the young girls in the audience. As they left the stage and the crowd dissipated, we were entertained by an obese middle aged woman who played a tambourine equipped with lights while writhing on the floor, shaking her ass, and shooting scornful looks at those around her. And then came the Rapture. You know the deal: Speed up Gang of Four's "It's Her Factory" and throw some synth on it. Vito Roccoforte kept the drumbeat steady while Matt Safer and Luke Jenner traded off on vocals, keeping a recurring bassline and piercing postpunk guitar going respectively throughout. The more songs played, the more they all melded together, bringing the realization that without the production work of DFA or Danger Mouse or the hoards of other beatmakers and polishers, the Rapture didn't have much to stand on. The whole show would have receded into MOR if it weren't for Gabriel Andruzzi, the band's multi-instrumentalist. Though no Eno or Brian Jones, Andruzzi manned two Roland synths, a set of cowbells, and an alto sax. Aside from his instrumentation adding the only flavor to the music, Andruzzi proved to be the only life in the band. With a constant stone face, Andruzzi danced while playing whatever instrument the song called for. At the beginning of one song (which song doesn't matter as they all sound the same), he appeared to serve no instrumental role, so he simply danced on the stage as if it were his role in the band. But this is no Mighty Mighty Bosstones deal. Andruzzi seemed like a child or fan that was doing nothing more than entertaining himself. I was almost disappointed when he did start playing an instrument. Other times, he simply had to stand and hit a cowbell, but he never stopped moving, and more than that, he wasn't even on beat. Andruzzi was playing in his own band, removed from whatever else was happening on stage. The biggest problem was that I felt nothing from the music other than a minor impulse to gyrate and the words were just as vapid. There was no emotion or meaning being conveyed, except from Gabriel who I felt like I knew at the end of the night, especially when the show transformed into Saturday/Thursday and he deejayed the latter part of the evening. The Rapture show was predictable and monotonous, but the Gabriel Andruzzi and the Rapture show was continually captivating. More than his upstaging, results from the fact that what happened on the stage, on their albums, and countless others like them, isn't art, it's commodity. And even as commodity, I wouldn't suggest opening your wallet for any of the product the band has to offer. Story by Matt Harrison