I was one of the lucky few to see the sold out Dodos show at Mercury Lounge last night. I’ve been working like a dog so I didn’t catch the opening acts. The San Francisco duo of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber were joined by a third percussion/vibes/organist for this show. Coming off their recent and highly regarded album, Visiter, The Dodos presented their acoustic freak folk to an energetic, collegiate crowd.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Long, plays at breakneck speeds, strumming vigorously while switching between two mics for lead and harmony vocals. His fingerpicking and blues riffs were beautifully executed on his quiver of big-body vintage guitars (using acrylic, flamenco-style nails!). It’s no wonder why he sits down for the entire show. The Dodos layered, rich sound comes from not only Long’s impressive guitar playing and Kroeber’s steady tribal drumming, but the use of loops during their performance.
I dare not call them a jam band, but at the and of their set, going from Jody to The Season, I looked around to see the crowd in a trance, bobbing and weaving together in a cult-like state.
An explosive, chaotic, hypnotic, and relentless rhythm rave is what Japanoise band Boredoms brought to Starlight Ballroom last night in Philadelphia. Their nearly ninety-minute set ranged from minimal beats and ambient washes to a full on aural assault of thundering tribal percussion and crushing primal noise.
Frontman Yamatsuka Eye opened the set on a pitch black stage swinging around a pair of trippy MIDI controlled light orbs that produced growling electronic feedback every time they were shaken. The noise produced by the glowing orbs steadily matured into a consistent thump, gaining intensity that culminated when the lighting was switched on and the triple drum attack of Muneomi Senju, Yojiro, Yoshimi P-We was unleashed. Eye threw the orbs to the floor and tore into the “Sevena,” a seven necked guitar that he played percussively with an array of baton like drumsticks. A dizzying stampede of flowing rhythms and sonic layers blasted from the stage setting the tone for the rest of the show.
Perhaps most impressively, the trio of drummers performed non-stop, like clockwork at times rising off their seats to pound on their snares, toms, and cymbals. Equally amazing is that they had unbelievable endurance, finishing the set and encore stronger than when they began. Eye was like a torrent on the stage and had a seemingly relentless amount of energy. He rotated between wailing on the Sevena with various sized “drumsticks,” producing melodic drones and creating blankets of noise on a joystick controlled synth. Between his duties on the synth and Sevena, he would let out indecipherable shrieks and exclamations like “Ha. Ha. Bia! Bia! Boog boog boog. Bia! Eeeeeet!” If I weren’t witnessing it first hand I would have assumed there was a pterodactyl on stage when Eye hit his “Eeeeet!” notes. Much to the dismay of the roadie/soundguy who tuned the seven-neck guitar throughout the set, Eye managed to break many of the strings on the upper necks during the final song.
Toward the end of the set, my ears were absolutely pummeled and I made my way toward the back of the crowd where I learned that Eye had a broken foot and was wearing an air cast the entire show. I went into the show being a more casual Boredoms listener, not super familiar with the band’s catalog, but I can see myself delving deeper into their records following last night’s torrent of a live show.
Live, Boredoms sound is nothing short of IMMENSE. I left the former roller skating rink, turned club, halfway through the encore, ears ringing as the band, never tiring, sent blasts of noise pouring into the gritty desolate streets around me.
Boredoms finish up their U.S. tour tonight at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.
NOTE: The picture accompanying this post is from Trent Wolbe, the band had asked not to be photographed during their show last night.
I found myself standing in a loosely crowded room at The Barbary last night to see The Ruby Suns who are currently touring the States with Le Loup. It was another one of those all-ages shows that make me feel like an old man. This time, instead of being in a church basement surrounded by youth, I was in a familiar club, a place that is usually dancey, drunk, and loud. And to add to that, people are usually pissed off their asses (at least I am) at The Barbary, dancing and partying into the wee hours of the morning.
Last night, er, yesterday evening was a bit different. Instead of being surrounded by late night partygoers, I was surrounded by a crowd consisting of high school kids, the typical show crowd, and actual children as the evening sun poured through a glass door into the dimly lit venue. It kind of felt like I was at SXSW, CMJ or something like that, which was pretty rad, even though I’m used to being in the club at midnight instead of dinner time. It’s great that Philly has these all-ages shows, they’re something unique that I never experienced in New York, or anywhere else for that matter, with the only drawback being the lack of booze. My heart sank when upon entering The Barbary only to see the taps covered with a fire hood leaving me to decide between vitamin water and chocolate milk (kidding about the choco milk, of course, but it would have been nice!). The show ended while the night was still young and I could have easily caught another show, actually an entire bill, or stuck around The Barbary for a DJ night. These “after-work” shows are something I can get used to and certainly a unique and welcomed addition Philly’s already busy music scene.
The Ruby Suns ended their set by the time it was dark outside and frontman Ryan McPhun made a quip about how the night was still young. It was good to see him in such good spirits after a set that was plagued with technical difficulties. Getting the band set up and sound checked took a good while and throughout the show there were issues with the backing track volume, mic stands tipping over, and every time McPhun got near his mic, he received a zap on the lips. Despite issues with the sound, the trio soldiered through about half of Sea Lion, treating the crowd with their sun-struck psychedelic goodness. Since the Suns were performing as a three-piece, they used a backing track for some of the instrumentals and vocal harmonies, while all three juggled various instruments and traded off vocals. McPhun exchanged guitar for percussion and back again, while Amee Robinson swapped between guitar, bass, and keyboards, and Imogen Taylor was in charge keyboards, and the flute. Each bandmember’s ability to switch between instruments mid-song and not lose a beat was the most impressive part of their set.
The three-piece ended the show with a solid rendition of “Tane Mahuta,” serving up the best of the night and going out on a good note. The sizable crowd responded accordingly, giving the group a substantial cheer despite the sound problems. It would be great to see the band fully perform Sea Lion live, but with all the record’s intricacies it would make touring trickier and much more expensive. If Sea Lion serves as any evidence, I’m expecting the band to mature their live show and eventually flesh it out to include supporting members and instrumentation.
I had a chance to check out favorites The Cribs in Houston the night before I head to Austin for SXSW. The guys played a raucously fun, but at times sloppy hour and fifteen minute set. They play many more shows at SXSW and are definitely worth seeing again and again. More pics on Flickr.
I felt ancient standing among the crowd at the St. Vincent/Foreign Born/Pattern Is Movement show last night at the First Unitarian Church. Looking around I realized that I was 10-years senior (or more) to over half of the crowd, which pretty much filled a good portion of the room (Paul, this should make you feel really old, HA!). Shit, there was even an 8-10 year old kid in there who rolled right up front with his parents looking dapper in his suit and all. Must have been first communion, bible night, or some shit upstairs in the church and his parents decided to catch some of the show before heading home.
The “venue” itself is as churchy as church basements get – linoleum flooring, flourescent lighting, a backstage filled with those metal folding chairs and tables, and kid art hanging in the hallways. Stage lighting consists of dimmed incandescent bulbs recessed in the drop ceilings common to these sorts of spaces. Given the “sunday school/bingo night” feel of the place, it’s actually a pretty rad place to catch a show.
Pattern Is Movement was the main reason I braved the frigid weather last night and they were the first of three to take the stage. The classically train duo of Andrew Thiboldeaux on vocals and Chris Ward on drums were situated side by side on stage.
For a duo, the band has an incredible amount of energy and presence on the stage as Ward pounded on the drums with sweat flying and Thiboldeaux sang in an exaggerated tenor as he hammered away on the rhodes and mellotron. The resulting sound is unconventional pop music with weirdly phased rhythms and a bit of classical or theatrical flair in the way the vocals are delivered. This was my first time hearing most of the band’s new songs, so I can’t compare them to the recorded versions, but given the band’s unorthodox sound, their music flows and comes across extremely well on stage. Toward the end of their set, the duo unleashed a pretty kick ass cover of Radiohead’s “Everything In It’s Right Place,” pulling it off surprisingly well with just two people.
I thought I was walking into a snoozefest early on last nite as I went to check out Yelle‘s first U.S. appearance ever at the Knitting Factory. She’s been like the biggest thing partywise in France. Listening to her album Pop-Up, it seems like she has a knack for sounding the same on all her songs, maybe its because I don’t understand what the f*ck she’s saying in French. I was partly right, the place was jam packed with adolescent college students and most of the males were fawning up front for her attention. As she came out on stage there wasn’t a female up front in sight. If these guys were smart they would’ve tried to mack on all the chicks in the back. I don’t really blame them though Yelle came out on stage looking pretty fit and sassy in her Jazzercise gear.
The crowd and Yelle were pretty stiff up until maybe the third song when she did “Tristesse/Joie”. Then she started warming up and blessed us with some Jazzercise and aerobics moves on stage. Seeing and listening to a Yelle show is like listening to the Knight Rider and Miami Vice soundtrack with live drums, plus a little Italian disco mixed in. Her two mates on stage did a pretty good with the drumming, keyboards and hyping the crowd up. Of course the crowd went bonkers once she performed her club hit “Je Veux Te Voir”. I wonder why everyone was jumping up and down for “short-dicks”? Anyways I enjoyed it like everyone else, the best song of the nite. Second best song of the nite was when Lauren Flax dj-ed flip-floppers Jungle Brothers’ classic “I’ll House You” before Yelle came on.
You pretty much get the same effect from seeing her live video on Youtube below. She sure can reproduce her record live. I wonder how many dudes went back to their dorm and spanked it in their sock.
London-based multi-instrumentalists, Sian Alice Group, played Johnny Brenda’s last night in Philadelphia in support of their new album, 59.59 out now on Social Registry. Like the album, the band’s live show is full of delicately orchestrated, classically oriented dreamy songs that straddle the line between sonic experimentation and complex rock. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band’s live show, as the record tends to be more on the mellow side, but ended up being pretty surprised at how engaging the group was live.
The setting was a dimly lit stage with disco-ball spots of light rotating in the background, while glowing rays softly caressed each member of the group who filled the space with gorgeous melodies, soft guitar lines, and sweeping strings. The guitarist was seated for most of the show, while members rotated from bass to keys and others used a variety of instruments ranging from triangles to the violin. The result was epic and atmospheric and for being such a newly formed band, they were sharp – songs sounded as if they were plucked straight from the record. The band’s cohesive rock-infused orchestral compositions were further strengthened by the gossamer beauty of Sian Ahern’s vocals that transport you to an alternate state of idyllic awareness.
Sian Alice Group play The Mercury Lounge in New York City tomorrow night for FRICTION. They’ll be joined by The Big Sleep, Priesbird, and Heavy Creatures.
