Apples in Stereo rock past a health setback

The Apples in Stereo tested the patience of their live audience for a sold-out gig Friday night at the North Star.

Problem: The band didn't come on until nearly 1 a.m., leaving some audience members steamed while others just left.

Reason: Apple singer/guitarist Robert Schneider took ill. Word had the ailment having something to do with asthma or fevers.

Whatever.

Luckily for fans of the sprightly septet, a humidifier was rushed to Schneider and the tedious wait was nearly worth it.

"I still feel like rocking," said Schneider after finishing the taut jangling pop of "Skyway."

Chirpy and dirty, Apples went about their usual business of maintaining sweet Beatles/Beach Boys/barbershop harmonies high atop the very rangiest crunching chords.

Through the kinky feedback of his black-and-white Rickenbacker, a nasal-crooning Schneider led his motley dressed crew (space suits, ties) into a raw ringing "Sun Is Out," its "comma-comma-check-it-out" chorus a flower-powered call to wintry arms.

With distortion as their friend, the driving twin guitars of "Do You Understand?" were matched in their crustiness only by Schneider's snotty vocals. Schneider's background-singing band made crisp high harmonies on "The Rainbow" and "Same Old Drag" as quaintly goofy as the earliest Beatles albums. It wasn't perfect. But for an ailing singer, Schneider worked it out.

Faring fabulously was the Apples' opening act Casper & the Cookies. With their caustic lyrics and chipper demeanor ("Sid from Central Park") the false-eyelash-wearing quartet came off smarmily precocious; like someone rolled the entire cast of The Royal Tenenbaums film into one band. But some razor-sharp guitar parts, a few off-kilter harmonies, noisy keyboards, and neatly compact tunes that blossomed with quickly complex bridges ("Kiss a Friend") made Casper best in show.