Grizzly Bear Live @ The Fillmore 6/22/09

[finally got this up]


I’m really having trouble finding the words to translate this experience. It simply left me awestruck. First, I guess I should say it was definitely worth the $30 spent, and that if you have a chance to see these guys, go. You won’t be disappointed.

After a nice opening set from fellow Brooklynites Here We Go Magic, the guys filed out and assumed their respective posts- arranging themselves laterally instead of the diamond configuration of a standard four-piece. Although The Fillmore was sold out, it was not so crowded as to be uncomfortable.

The show got underway with Southern Point from the new album. And by the refrain of “in the end…” I knew I was witnessing something exceptional. Ed Droste’s bewitching croon sliced through the atmosphere as the the stage exploded in a burst of resonant sound, flashing light and color. The dark psy-folk of Lullaby came next followed by the Wilsonian harmonizing of gently meandering Cheerleader. Knife was played and, as expected, was great. Central & remote, About Face and Fine for Now all hit the mark. Colorado and Reprise were amazingly intense live; both sublimely meditative moments.

The shuffling Ready Able with it’s distorted guitars; jagged, icy synths and hauntingly exquisite harmonies was definitely a highlight. Ditto Two Weeks, which I knew was coming as soon as Daniel Rosen discarded his guitar and sat down at the Whurlitzer.

I Live With You was a mezzanine of sorts, a lull in energy where the spell was broken only briefly by a fan who let out the best rebel yell I’ve heard since I left North Carolina. This then immediately transitioned into While you wait for the others; which happened to be the emotional apex (well for me at least) of the night.

Throughout, mood was deftly altered in a novel manner- tension built and released not through rising and falling of tempo, but through an unbelievably dynamic dynamic-range; we’re talking symphonic caliber. From the nadir of a single voice (Droste and Rosen traded vocal duties equally, backed by bassist Chris Taylor and drummer Christopher Bear) or acoustic guitar the amplitude would swell crystallizing into shuffling rhythms and four-part harmonies. Rising to at times to cacophonous crescendos of layered guitar and synths, flailing toms and crashing cymbals.

For the encore, we were graced with an acoustic version of All We Ask in which the guys crowded around one microphone old school quartet style.

Pretty much the perfect night. The only other thing I could have asked for was to hear Plans. Ah well, maybe next time.

...and

If you’ve not already got it, be sure to nab the new record Veckatimest, out now on Warp. If you’ve read the reviews but are skeptical of all the unctuously gushing adoration- yeah, it actually is that good. Named for a small island off of Cape Cod, the album is an opus of jangly guitars, wandering rhythms, and jaw-dropping harmonies so painstakingly crafted that would make Brian Wilson blush.

'Tis truly a beautiful record.

http://www.grizzly-bear.net/

http://www.myspace.com/grizzlybear

TV On The Radio Live @ Fox Theater 5/22/09

Wow! what a show. The Fox theater is my new favorite Bay Area venue. Impressive is an understatement. Massive, ornate, bordering on the opulent, this recently restored icon from the 1920's can accommodate close to 4000 people. And the acoustics are excellent for such large venue. This is certainly a premier Northern California venue, as evidenced by the quality of acts it is booking: BB King, Animal Collective, Black Keys, Of Montreal and Bloc Party to name just those that have been scheduled in the past two months.

TVOTR are just an exceptionally professional live band. Always having been difficult for me to classify, I’m wanton for adjectives whenever I try to describe them to those not familiar with the music. I can’t think of anyone that’s got their particular mix of styles. The sound is a unique fusion of influences that range from post punk to Afrobeat to doo-wop.

Seeing them live really drove home their versatility. On the strength of only their own material (with the exception of an impromptu cover of Warren G’s Regulator) they traversed through many different moods, bringing the intensity up and down, in a very natural manner. It was a true journey, as cliché as it sounds, that’s basically what it amounted to. Tunde was amazing, as was the horn section consisting of sax and trumpet. Dave Sitek was doing all kinds of cool sounding stuff in the background as one might expect. The guys really compliment each other; doing multiple things depending on the song. Kip Malone, I found out, sings a lot more than I’d previously thought- he pretty much did the vocals for the entire first half of Dear Science.

One of the many things that made live show unique was the way they varied their performances of various songs from their recordings. For instance, they opened with Love Dog from their latest album. Now, on the album version the energy of the song is more or less constant, but the way they played it live was much more dynamic. They started really quite with just Tunde singing instead of the pads in the recording. The energy built and by the end of the tune it was really slammin’ especially the drums. From their they ran through A Method, Crying, Halfway Home, Wolf Like Me, Golden Age, Staring at the Sun, Shout Me Out, I Was A Lover, Dancing Choose, Dreams, DLZ and Dirtywhirl.

The show was pretty much perfection even before the stellar three song encore. Starting slow and emotive with Family Tree, the guys then played a haunting stripped back version of Stork And Owl, before finishing with rousing version of Lovers Day featuring several members of the audience.

My expectations for the night were quite high. With the exception of the irate giraffe-on-meth-looking, surfer dude who tried to start shit with my homie; they were thoroughly exceeded. Go see this band live, you won’t be disappointed.

http://www.tvontheradio.com/

http://www.myspace.com/tvotr

http://thefoxoakland.com/

Black Mountain live @ the Rickshaw Stop 3/20/09

The Rickshaw Stop is a pretty tiny venue, with a capacity of probably less than 150. So I knew this experience would be intimate, for better or worse.

Opening band Sadies, out of Toronto, played an interesting hybrid of bluegrass and rock. The incorperation of fiddle and upright bass clearly beholden to Appalachia, but swingy rhythm and vox that recalled rockabilly. Dueling guitarists alternated between rhythm and lead, sounding at times twangy and banjo-like, but also veering off into surf rock and even Byrds-esque territory.

At about twenty after ten the stage was set and the crowd was amped.

Black Mountain’s music, a heady blend of bluesy psychedelic stoner rock, sounds so much weightier live than recorded it’s difficult to exaggerate. This added weight could also be partially accounted for by the brooding tone of their lastest album, In the Future , which featured almost exclusively in tonight's set.

From the opening pads I knew this was going to be a good show. Jeremy Schmidt’s Moog provided a long atmospheric intro (long enough for the rest of the band to come on stage through the fog) which blended neatly into the chugging, bass heavy Wucan. Druganaut which sounds not unlike a sludgy Zepplin followed quickly after. The set tonight was fluid as the band didn't really spend much time mincing words.

The solid rhythm section was really prominant, almost hypnotic at points. And Amber Webber sounds so much different live than on the band’s recordings. The piercing moan of her voice cut through the atmosphere like a beam of ultra-violet light. To my surprise, that weird stuttering thing she does with her vocals is not an effect but a skill that she can perform at will.

The crescendo of the night certainly came with the frantic rolling toms and howling guitar of Evil Ways. The song is substantially charged anyways; but experiencing it live, it’s almost manic. Tyrants was just fucking awesome live! Definitely the highlight for me. The thundering intro and epic break down were a fitting homage to everything worth remembering about 1970’s rock ‘n’ roll.

The band played only one encore. However, being that it was the over-the-top Bright Lights, which clocks in at over 16 minutes, that was more than enough.

[Black Mountain is a sister project of Pink Mountain Tops. Both groups feature members of the Vancouver art collective Black Mountain Army. Several of the band members work for no-profit Insite which provides care for the homeless and drug-addicted of Vancouver notorious Downtown Eastside neighborhood. This grim work has admittedly influenced the bands sound.]

http://www.myspace.com/blackmountain

http://www.myspace.com/pinkmountaintops

Be sure to check out the new album In the Future out now on Jagjaguwar.

These Arms Are Snakes w/ Trap Them and The Narrows @ the Bottom of the Hill 12/14

These Arms Are Snakes play I guess what could be annoyingly termed post-hardcore. The sound is dense and muscular; technical but virile; mathy but not too much- algebra rather than calculus. Kinda Similar to Refused.

The band is headed by vocalist Steve Snere, a skinny, tight clothed hipster looking dude (the resemblance to my neighbor is uncanny) with ragged blond hair, bushy mutton chops and a serious mustache. And on stage he is just insane. Channeling Iggy Pop at times- complete with masochism via broken glass- he manically thrashes about like an epileptic marionette. Mumbling nearly incoherent bad jokes between songs with a draw that is part Elvis and part Hunter S Thompson; his vocal style is screamy, yet somewhat musical in an Alice Cooper kind of way; not the unintelligible growl of a typical metal front man. He uses a chaos pad to further freak it out- screaming into the box while applying effects like ring modulation, causing his voice to twist and stutter.




Here is a clip from different show. The sound and image quality are dodgy but you can get an idea of how mental Snere is.



The rest of the band was appropriately awesome! Producer/drummer Chris Common is fucking amazing. And guitarist/keyboardist Ryan Fredriksen is a virtuoso, providing melodic counter point to the onslaught. Serious chops all around.

Opening bands The Narrows and Trap Them were both good, playing fairly middle of the road hardcore that got the crowd primed.

Bizarrely the interim music between bands was 50's and 60's soul. My friend Dalan remarked that it was like pickled ginger- cleansing our sonic palettes after each course for maximum effect.

Thank you Kareem and Dalan for a great night. Cheers!

http://www.myspace.com/thesearmsaresnakes