I've been a fan of Fields since I first got a hold of their debut EP last year, 7 from the Village. It was a pleasant collection of British indie with a touch of folk and pleasant male and female harmonies. Their debut record Everything Last Winter came out a few months back in the UK, and it took the pleasant elements from the EP but added a dose of rock to the equation, a very welcome addition that gives the band a bit more energy and grit.

I finally got to see Fields on Tuesday, opening for Blonde Redhead. I didn't really know what to expect, and didn't have too many expectations. Fields were a young, well rehearsed group of Brits that didn't have any difficulties pulling off the nearly constant harmonizing found in their songs. And the female keyboard player/singer is a a bit of a looker. The set started out a bit quiet, with the mix a bit off. However, Fields picked up a lot of momentum as they went on and were rocking a pretty big room pretty well by the end of their set. I'm definitely up to catch them again, ideally when I'm in the mood for something a little British and in a smaller venue.

Fields are playing two more NYC shows later this week, one at Union Hall on the 18th and at the Mercury Lounge the next night.


I've always wanted to see Blonde Redhead, but things had never previously worked out. As 23 is one of my favorite releases of 2007 thus far, I was very happy to finally get the chance to not only see B R, but to see them for this record. I was not disappointed. The opening 25 minutes were ethereal bliss: Blonde Redhead began their set with five or six straight tracks from the new record, all of which sounded amazing and firmly established an engaging, almost hypnotizing mood, the likes of which are often hallmarks of the best concerts I've attended. The trio played their entire set on top of pre-recorded tracks (usually drum machines, secondary melodic instrumentation and backing vocals) which would normally bother me; however, the exceedingly good musicianship and seamless blend of pre-recorded to live sounds left me impressed more than skeptical. It was a case of a talented band using all the tools at their disposal to create a better live performance and experience, and about as far away from the lip-syncing of pop-stars over their album tracks as I can imagine. The atmosphere had a kind of magical quality to it; between how graceful and stylish the band looked on stage, to the precise reproduction of a beautiful record, to the excellent shoegazey atmospherics, I honestly felt like Blonde Redhead were making a strong argument to be my favorite band.

Unfortunately this beautiful trance-like-state only lasted for this opening segment; afterwards, they started playing some old material, which sounded great, but lacked the cohesion of the songs from the new record. I was still very happy to hear some old favorites (particularly a few tracks from Melodies of Certain Damaged Lemons), and it's not like the show became bad after that point; it was still great. It's just that the first stretch was maybe the best thing I've seen so far this year, I wish it could've lasted even longer. The very appreciative audience was rewarded with two encores, and not unlike my experience with Bjork the previous week, I now find myself more than a little bit obsessed with a band that deserves more attention than I've previously given them.

Also, it was just announced that Blonde Redhead will be playing one of the free McCarren Pool shows this summer. Sweet!

Labels: Blonde Redhead, Concert Reviews, Fields