The Equestrian, interpreted by Bunny

Ah Les Savy Fav. I’ve seen them at least ten times already, and after each show, I don’t have much new to say except that they left me completely satisfied. Highlights from this one: it was a record release show, and my first time in the new Music Hall of Williamsburg. MHW rose from the remnants of NorthSix. While I loved NorthSix and have many great memories of shows there, it doesn’t have anything no the new place. MHW is basically the Bowery Ballroom, except in Brooklyn. The layout is largely the same, except the balcony bar has its own room, which is a nice spot to chill out. The sound system may actually be better, as it’s brand new, and they folks at Bowery Presents have a little more experience under their belt building venues. I’m thrilled to have a venue of this caliber in Brooklyn. My only complaint: couldn't you have picked a better name? I nearly always refer to it as the new NorthSix, which feels about half as long and twice as descriptive.
So naturally, having a new venue and a new sound system to play with, Les Savy Fav turned it up LOUD. The winner of a LSF video contest, was announced who was all of 8 years old and pretty pumped to be on the stage at a rock show. She was also very cute. And, like any other LSF show, there were many shenanigans and costume changes. Tim Harrington eventually ended up in his underwear, everyone got drunk and rocked. What a great band, who seemed very comfortable as a five piece again. For those who didn’t give their newest, Let’s Stay Friends a chance, I’d recommend you reconsider. It’s definitely an evolution for them, and it’s aged quite well.

Les Savy Fav - The Equestrian

Labels: Concert Reviews, Les Savy Fav

When I read that Beirut was playing a show in my neighborhood, all of three blocks from where I live, I was quite excited. One of the few things about my neighborhood I wish was different is the lack of music venues: It’s possible to catch the occasional jazz trio at some of the local restaurants (which I’m all for), but Fort Greene doesn’t have any proper venues, particularly for the kinds of shows that I attend. To suddenly believe it possible that the Masons were willing to let promoters put on shows, big shows with good bands, nonetheless, was kind of like waking up from a fantasy about having the Bowery Ballroom conveniently located at the end of your block, and then finding out it was true.

Actually, while the Masonic Temple is huge, beautiful and mysterious from the outside, it’s not the Bowery. And that’s ok. It’s quite good for what it is, which is a very large room with a huge seated balcony on three sides, and a smallish stage. My best guess is that without seats on the floor (the venue was entirely seated for this show), its capacity is about 800 folks or so. The lighting and sound system left a little to be desired, though adequate. Considering that this was the first show held at this venue, things went pretty smoothly.

Beirut were quite good; they were a fairly large ensemble (eight or nine folks on stage), with all the instrumentation one would expect from listening to their records. Most members of the band were multi-instrumentalists, and the resulting balance between stringed instruments, horns and percussion changed quite frequently. My favorite consisted of three ukulele players side by side at the front of the stage, for no reason that I can remember, but it sounded good. It’s not the kind of thing one sees very often. The crowd was attentive and enthusiastic; the band made it through the set with only minor miscommunications, which is impressive considering how much shifting around was going on with each song. Zack Condon’s voice was distinctive and clear, and his understated confidence was quite charming. It was what I’d hoped for in a Beirut show. If you’re a fan of any of the records, I’d highly recommend seeing them when they come through your town. And I’d also recommend checking out Devotchka, who will probably be right up your ally.

Labels: Beirut, Concert Reviews

Battles and Deerhunter was my last South Street Seaport show for the summer, and allow me to reiterate what a great concert series this is; I sorely miss it when it’s cold outside. Props to all those who help make this happen, even the corporate overlords. And a fitting finale it was, with the Seaport about as full as I’ve seen it for any of these free shows.

Deerhunter were still in the midst of being the band that was everywhere and full of unnecessary drama, a moment that has thankfully passed. At that particular show, the newest was that their guitar player had recently quit, and this may have been their first show without him. He quit, by the way, because he was quite tired of all the unnecessary drama surrounding the band. Let this be a lesson to all future super-hyped blogfork bands: some drama, good. Too much drama, and not only do fans weary of hearing about it, but your guitar player quits too. Apart from all that, they still sounded pretty good. The bands rhythm section was probably better than they were when I saw them a month and a half earlier, but now Bradford Cox, the singer and center of the show, was strapped into a guitar and not free to roam and stalk in the ways that made him both frightening and compelling the last time. He managed, however, to be the center of attention anyway. The band was also not quite used to this arrangement, as the guitars sounded a bit sloppy. But it was still a pretty good show, and I’m happy I had the chance to hear Deerhunter play these songs again.

Ah, Battles. Fellow music-fanatic friends of mine, whose taste I respect and often overlap with, didn’t stop raving about the Battles record for the entire summer. I dutifully gave it several listens, and very much tried to understand what about it was so mind-blowing to so many folks. Speaking of which, that packed crowd at the Seaport was largely there to see Battles; there was no doubt to me about who the bigger band was, or is, for that matter. Anyway, I failed miserably in penetrating the proggy unpredictability and virtuoso skill on the record, but was hoping that live it all might make more sense, or at least be more enjoyable. I can absolutely say that it did not make any more sense live, but it was a compelling set for several reasons: I cannot understate the level of musicianship necessary to not only write, but then recreate live such complicated, difficult polyrhythms and melodies (I’m not sure that “melody” is actually the right word to describe what a band like Battles is doing, as it feels like a bit of an oversimplification, and there isn’t a great deal that is “melodic” in the way that I normally think of the term). The performance of music like that, with that level of intensity and a big audience, is a physically tiring experience. It commands respect, and literally wore me out trying to keep up listening to it. I couldn’t make it through the whole set, though that didn’t actually take anything away from the experience. As it stands, the Battles form of prog is not my cup of tea (there are few types of prog, if any, that I get into), but I’m happy to have seen them. Lastly, props to their drummer, who somehow made having one crash symbal placed high above his head, using it for occasional dramatic effect, somehow cool. I don’t know how he did it, and I would not encourage others to try.

Labels: Battles, Concert Reviews, Deerhunter

My buddy Scott (who took the picture above) has been raving to me about Team Robespierre for quite some time; much longer, in fact, than their current moment of buzz and good press. Scott has spent much time in the past trying to convert me to his favorite band, playing their records whenever given the chance, and doing his best to spread the gospel of their live show to me and the other drunks we spend our time with. For no particularly good reason, it took me a while to go check out one of Team Robespierre’s shows with him. He had explained very clearly that to understand and dig the Team, one needed to experience their live show, as that is their preferred and best means of being. I think that he’s absolutely right.

The combination of a free show and free beer were enough to convince me to head up to Greenpoint for the show; I forget who all exactly was on the bill, but Robespierre played first. And more or less immediately, all the things Scott had been telling me for so long came true: the kids flipped their shit. Hard. Team Robespierre (at the time, perhaps that’s changed now) did not have a big enough fan base to fill up Studio B, and it’s quite likely that most folks where there for either the free booze or the headliner, but they did have more than enough fans to take over almost the entire dance floor, and to put it to good use. It reminded me of what a Matt and Kim show is like, except less winky fun and more spazm. The band has serious energy, more so, in fact, than they know what to do with. Their fans similarly share this energy, and the stage and crowd seemed to be a mess of flying and convulsing bodies, without the self-consciousness of people trying to look good in any way whatsoever.

Unfortunately for me (and the other uninitiated), like so many other promising shows at Studio B, the sound basically ruined it. I couldn’t tell you why it was so difficult to hear all the given instruments at a given time (I feel like in a single song, I could hear about two instruments between their guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and vocals). Some (perhaps a majority) of the blame must go the soundman, who couldn’t figure out what the band ought to sound like, and some likely falls on the band for not getting some of these kinks worked out during the soundcheck. What I kind of heard (but not enough to properly understand, let alone judge), was hyper, spastic, synth driven punk with vocals that match the music. The songs were fast, brief, and weird. If that sounds like the kind of thing you’d be into, particularly if your someone who can’t really dance but loves to spazz out anyway, then believe the hype, and check out the band.

Labels: Concert Reviews, Team Robespierre