I’ve been in love with Devotchka for a while now; their records are flawless, sad, romantic and beautiful. For all the attention that other bands playing “gypsy” music have been receiving in the past year or two (cough *Beirut* cough), I don’t understand how Devotchka isn’t headlining festivals, as they do this style of music more uniquely and frankly better than anyone else in the genre. Luckily for me, I still have the chance to catch them in intimate venues like the Spiegletent.

The Spiegletent is a traveling tent that roosts at the South Street Seaport for the summer. I’m told that the main event at the tent is a cirque du soleil type acrobatic variety show. But when that’s over they occasionally put on concerts, which I guarantee to be a unique experience. The tent itself is large and circular, with booths lining the perimeter. If a group of wealthy gypsy’s had a traveling pub with a stage, this is what it would look like. Detailed wood panels, wood beams and mirrors surround you. A stage is set up at the opposite end of the tent where the band plays with an open floor in front of them. It would also be a great place to have a dance. Here’s a hint of you’re going to a show here: if you purchase your ticket with an American Express card, they’ll let you skip the line and go into the venue ahead of everyone else.

The Spiegletent was a perfect place to see Devotchka, who were even better than I hoped. It was the kind of night where my friends and I would drink much wine before the show, excited to see a band that are objectively better than ninety-five percent of the shows that we normally attend. It’s an evening to be emotional, to get swept away with beautiful, haunting melodies while dancing to intricate rhythms with a room full of friends and strangers just as captivated as you are. Devotchka are a crack band of musicians; each instrument is featured at interesting and appropriate times, ranging from a string quartet that weeps and dances, to a tuba, sounding like a giant ship blasting bass lines appropriate for a spy-noir thriller. The singer, Nick Urata, has a voice that’s hyper-emotive, captivating and beautiful; it sits atop the intricate instrumentation without imposing, but rather bringing already engaging music to emotional highs and lows that aren’t common. The list of bands I’ve seen that can put on shows as good as this one was isn’t very long, go see them while they’re still playing venues that are not that big. If they play Spiegletent again, I’ll be there without a second thought.

Labels: Concert Reviews, DeVotchKa