Live!: Kishi Bashi, Nightlands, & Sondre Lerche at the Bowery Ballroom

Unlike my marathon listening session of Sondre Lerche’s new album, one of the things I made sure I did was to deprive myself of the opportunity to listen to his opening bands before the concert. Something about wanting my initial reaction to happen then and there (or something weird like that) and for better or worse I’m glad I did.

K. Ishibashi (Or Kishi Bashi) took the stage and won me over in an instant. With his spirited virtuosic violin playing, easy going demeanor and personable stage presence, and overwhelming gratefulness it would’ve been hard not to. The second Kishi Bashi started singing random Japanese lyrics into his looping mic, was when I knew I was sold though. Despite a small misstep bringing one of his songs to a screeching halt, Kishi Bashi trucked on, treating listeners to a sexy pseudo rap song called “Just the Tip” that made the audience giggle with glee, and when he laughed into his final song of the set “Manchester” with its everything but the kitchen sink composition and lively multi-tasking, it was clear that Kishi Bashi had made fans out of everyone. A feat he totally deserved.

The second opener, Nightlands, featuring Dave Hartley of Sondre Lerche’s backing band was a little different. Somehow mashing up folk rock, dance-pop, and heavy amounts of electronica, Nightlands was an experience to be had. Using harmonizer pedals in addition to its four part vocal section seemed a little like overkill. Actually from their use of four synthesizers, heavy distortion, and reverb, everything about their love of the loud, abrasive sounds and the robotically electronic seemed a little over done. But there was a define potential and talent in the band that was allowed to shine through underneath all the electronic haze and robotic vocals. If they stripped down a little, I’m sure they would’ve been more greatly appreciated.

When Sondre Lerche took the stage at 11 (to rambunctious applause, I might add), there was little to be said. Unlike his previous bands that had taken the time to introduce themselves and warm up the crowd, Lerche launched right into his first song “Ricochet” off the new self-titled album which lead right into an energy laden “Private Caller”. When Lerche did speak, it was always something charming or humorous and a little more than mere gratitude. After revealing that it had been almost 5 years since his last show at the Bowery, Lerche then set out to make it count playing a pretty even mixture of new and old and delighting a room full of spectators with flashy guitar pyrotechnics and witty onstage banter with comedic foil, drummer Dave Heilman.

After seeing Sondre Lerche for the first time last month in a small crowded bar and this time in a large sold out venue one thing remains the same: Sondre Lerche is a remarkable showman. Whereas his albums are a lot tamer, up on stage the man really let loose with balls-to-the-wall energy and a ferocity that belies Lerche’s charmingly pleasant demeanor. After such a charged performance, it was no surprise to anyone amid the thunderous nonstop applause that the man would be coming back to play an encore. The encore was a set of songs: somber ballad “Maybe You’re Gone”, a mammoth and intense “Dead Passengers” that clocked up somewhere around 10 minutes, and one of Sondre’s favorite audience participation songs “Modern Nature”. The show seemed over after that, but no one stopped cheering and so the man of the hour took to the stage again to play a very final “My Hands Are Shaking”.


Seeing Sondre Lerche live before, I shouldn’t have been surprised by Lerche’s onstage gait and yet, it’s something so completely inspired that I know even if I see him a hundred more times, I’ll still be surprised. And adding Kishi Bashi to his backing band was a great choice because like Lerche, K. really gets into what he’s playing and reacts with a sort of unbridled sincerity that has to be seen to be believed. A truly wonderful concert put on by a man who’s had about a decade of experience. If you want to have all your expectations shattered, your eardrums pleasantly rocked, and your heart triumphantly won, go see Sondre Lerche. He’s still on tour. You won’t regret it.

Live!: The Cave Singers and Fleet Foxes at United Palace Theatre

As the Seattle folk rock trio Cave Singers took the stage and launched immediately into their first song, I only had one thought: “Why didn’t I listen to them before this!?”. I had heard a couple of their songs and that motivated me to buy their latest album No Witch but that had more or less been the end of it. And yet their highly energetic folk rock was everything you could want and more. Pete Quirk was friendly and personable and helped to really motivate the audience to get into their music. The only problem with their set was that it seemed far too short; a problem befitting of such a good opening band.

Whereas The Cave Singers were talkative and fun, Fleet Foxes was more or less their opposite. Instead they were grateful but reserved and channeled all their energies into performing their songs to the best of their ability. It wasn’t until at least about halfway through their set that Robin felt comfortable enough to try some onstage banter (assisted by the charmingly hilarious Joshua Tillman). Instead the band filled their nearly 2 hour long set with pretty much their whole catalog (minus the 2006 Fleet Foxes EP) and the concert hall was filled with the collective vocals of each audience member in addition to the band. While I’ve had the pleasure of listening to their albums to my heart’s content, that did not prepare me for the truly unmatched quality of seeing the band live. Each time the band hit its three or sometimes four part harmonies, I broke out in swarms of goosebumps; that and the occasional punch in the heart from Robin Pecknold’s emotional delivery. Each song was met with hearty applause (especially audience favorites “Mykonos” and “Blue Ridge Mountains”) eventually resulting in Pecknold's return to the stage, after nearly 5 minute standing ovation with undying applause, to play an encore consisting of a solo “Oliver James” before being joined by the rest of the band for “Helplessness Blues”.

I can honestly say that this show was by far the best show I’ve ever been to. Odd considering the caliber of shows I’ve been to and nothing against those shows but a live Fleet Foxes show is unlike any show I’ve ever experienced. Despite being in a seated theater as opposed to a standing room only venue, I felt the closest to the actual music making than I’ve ever felt. Each little thing the band did was felt and responded to in kind by the audience. The audience’s insistent need to let the band know they were enjoying themselves was not just for show; Fleet Foxes inspired these feelings of intense appreciate with their every action. For anyone who fancies themselves a Fleet Foxes fan, you absolutely must attend a concert: It’ll absolutely shatter your perceptions of them and rebuild them with a greater understanding, greater appreciation, and greater love. Fleet Foxes is definitely a band whose full effect is only transmitted live. It’s not often that I’m rendered absolutely speechless, inspired to sing out, and constantly tingling with goosebumps and yet the band did so effortless. So if you have the opportunity to see them like, do it. You won’t be disappointed.

Live!: Matthew Bourne's Lord of the Flies at the Theatre Royal

After viewing a production of Matthew Bourne’s emotionally gripping adaptation of Swan Lake this past fall during its NYC season, I knew a transatlantic journey was a definite must. And so on the announcement of his newest work, an adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (with an extremely limited run of about 5 days); I was drawn to Glasgow’s Theatre Royal through a sort of siren song and the promise of good theater.

British director/choreographer Matthew Bourne has brilliantly reimagined many a work, from Bizet’s Carmen to Prokofiev’s Cinderella and most famously Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. His latest creation, Lord of the Flies certainly doesn’t disappoint. The production marks the first work since the start of his company, New Adventures, that wasn’t choreographed by Bourne, instead entrusting veteran company dancer and associate director Scott Ambler to bring his latest vision to life.

With Golding’s Lord of the Flies as the subject matter, there are certainly pitfalls and expectations as to what it would be like which Ambler and Bourne shatter effortlessly. Rather than set the action inside a jungle, they resorted to creative use of the space and an industrial inspired set although several elements of story’s fearsome jungle remain. Ambler, through his use of flowing lines followed by unpredictable hard-hitting choreography, did an incredible job of capturing the primal influence of the jungle- aided most definitely by frequent New Adventures collaborator Terry Davies’ score.

Dominic North’s portrayal as responsible peace-keeper leader Ralph was earnest, sincere, and heartbreaking: most notably in a lovely trio with Tim Bartlett (Simon) and Sam Plant (Piggy) as he questions his continued leadership and at the plays end where he sits dejected, tears streaming after the boys are rescued and the disaster averted. Adam Galbraith, Danny Reubens, and Jack Jones proved to be startlingly convincing as the terrifying violent trio of Jack, Roger, and Maurice while Luke Murphy and Phil Gardner as twins Sam and Eric with their picture perfect symmetry and radiant, bewilderingly charm was a definite highlight of the production and offered much needed comic relief.

Perhaps the ballet’s greatest achievement was in its inclusion of local children (many of whom had never danced before) giving them vigorous and challenging choreography to learn which they performed ably, like born professionals. Ambler’s choreography relying on a lot of repetition and synchronicity, the boys really stepped up to the challenge and tackled the difficult steps to fantastic effect.


Bourne’s Lord of the Flies is a true testament to the trust he has in the company members to bring his vision to life, the high level of talent contained within his company, as well as the effectiveness of his company’s educational branch Re:bourne. Here’s hoping there are plenty more innovative and imaginative collaborations from Bourne and his company. I know as long as there are, I’ll be willing to endure more transatlantic voyages to see them because quite frankly, they’re worth it.

Live!: Bowerbirds with Des Ark and Death Vessel at the Bowery Ballroom

Roughly two hours after the concert began, Phil Moore, Beth Tacular, and Yan Westerlund aka Bowerbirds take to the stage at the Bowery Ballroom.
Their appearance silences the previous rowdy crowd of excited concertgoers and those who had plied themselves with alcohol to ease the wait. The trio is joined by backup instrumentalists Mark Paulson (their old multi-instrumentalist before Westerlund) and first time tour band mate Rachel Rollins.
After each member takes one of the several instruments strategically scattered around the stage, audience cheers launch the band into their first song “Dark Horse” whose reference to New York rouses an even more excited audience response.
After previous acts Aimee Argote of Des Ark and Death Vessel’s slower, calmer, and more somber sets; the Bowerbirds toe-tapping full band arrangements were a welcome change. Various instruments including homemade marimba, bass drum, violin, and electric guitar compliment the band’s standard accordion, guitar, and drum kit.
The band delivered multi-textured, driving renditions of such favorites as “Northern Lights”, “Teeth”, and “Beneath Your Tree”; not often heard songs such as “La Denigracion” and “Matchstick Maker” (bonus tracks off their 2007 debut Hymns for a Dark Horse); and introducing two new songs the band had premiered only days before (“Brave World” and another unnamed song).
Between songs, members zigzagged across the stage, switching instruments and readying themselves for each song which they played with remarkably practiced precision. Feedback problems during the very first song from the accordion and later from the electric bass’ pickup were the only blemishes on the bands magical transportation from the crowded city venue.
The band offered up light stage banter revealing the winners of a beard contest they held before playing the last few songs of their set. Aside from the cheering that both preceded and followed it, the band’s last song “House of Diamonds” was met with appreciative silence by the crowd followed by unwavering applause that ushered the band’s reemergence for a two song encore (“Hooves” and “My Oldest Memory”).

If you haven’t seen Bowerbirds live in concert, I strongly suggest you do. Their performance was awe-inspiring, uplifting, fun, engaging, and almost terrifying for its ability to make you forget where you were. Whereas I initially had doubts about how the band’s intimate sound would do in a larger venue, their rustic upbeat folk songs erased all thought of the crowded venue and filled the hall to the brim with nature-inspired sound.
The band’s playing was surprisingly precise especially considering how many instruments each member played per concert (with the exception of guitarist/vocalist Phil Moore, the rest of the band averaged about 3 each).
Their support consisted of talented and capable songwriters with emotion-evoking skills and great onstage presences. Aimee Argote’s onstage banter an obvious concert highlights as she explained the reason her songs were so short, described her job as a songwriter and concert opener, and countered a concertgoer’s request for her to take off her pants with a hilarious “How much money do you have?”.
Death Vessel was Argote’s opposite. His songs were soft and often twice as long, requiring patience and focus to really get them. Whereas Argote’s playing included volume-play and was firmly rooted on Earth, Death Vessel’s voice with its soul-rousing tenor soared ever upwards.
Discovering Bowerbirds about a year ago, I had been eagerly anticipating the moment I could see them in concert; studying their songs and lyrics with an almost obsessive fervor. Their uniqueness which drew me to them is the same reason I thoroughly enjoyed their concert. Instead of shambling onstage playing the same arrangements, the addition of the new uncommon instruments assured they would maintain the audience’s attention as well as displaying the band’s versatility. Seeing Bowerbirds live transformed my fanboy obsession into full blown respect and cemented their place as a definite contender as one of my favorite bands.

Live!: tUnE-yArDs and St. Vincent at Central Park Summerstage

Yesterday I had the immense pleasure of catching tUnE-yArDs and St. Vincent at the Central Park Summerstage in Manhattan. The concert was part of a series of free concerts put on in Central Park and actually featured one other artist by the name of Basia Bulat but me and my friend missed it in our efforts to navigate through the city and to find the Summerstage which we had never been to before. tUnE-yArDs (aka Merill Garbus) and bassist Nate Brenner, took the stage and started with an audience partipation song which had the crowd screaming "Yeah" each time she asked "Do you want to love?" and then asking everyone to jump out and down. Following her first song was another song I hadn't heard before, followed by another new song about lullabies that sizzled with Marvin Gaye-like steaminess. She invited a slew of musicians from all over to join her onstage to perform the energetic "Gangsta" (another new song but a live favorite of hers) which had the audience cheering practically from start to finish. The musicians helped to replicate the layering effects off her album (one song required two guys to play the drums). She also played "Fiya", "Real Live Flesh" and "Hatari" before finishing up with another new song. Seeing tUnE-yArDs live you get to more or less see her music making process as you watch her sing and drum into her mics that capture all the sounds into the looping petals and get to see her experiment with what kinds of sounds she wants (hitting different parts of her mic stand before deciding on which one she liked best). In addition to being an amazing performer with a gigantic voice, she also had a remarkable stage presence regaling the audience with little anecdotes when time allowed and inspiring even the most steadfast of buzzkills to dance along with her.

I had gone into the concert without actually listening to that much St. Vincent. I had listened to Actor about once all the way through and never really listened to it again but had heard she was amazing live. What St. Vincent's music is like is hard to explain: Sort of quirky indie pop music with experimental electronic effects and distortion. She had a full array of instruments of stage and all of her band-mates proved to be skilled multi-instrumentalists. Her violinist was also a guitarist, her flautist also playing synthesizer when needed, her bassist occasionally whipping out a clarinet and also some strange instrument I couldn't see but still managed to vibrate your organs when he played it. On that note, I should mention there was so much bass power during her set that every time he played, the audience was shaken to their very core and despite audience requests to "Turn down the bass", this continued for the whole set. Not being familiar with St. Vincent's music and albums I can't provide a setlist but I do know she performed a track from Actor called "The Party" live for the first time at this concert. In order to execute it, she had another set of musicians come onstage to assist: another violinist, violist, cellist, french horn, even a bass clarinet made an appearance. Her set was for the most part pretty mellow and Annie Clark said practically nothing except to ask for her mic to be turned up, to introduce her band-mates and guest musicians, to thank everyone and wish them a fond farewell but there was something awe-inspiring about her performance. How each little thing fit together to form this grand tapestry of sound and how Annie could start and stop it all with just so much as a laser-focused glance in any one direction. While not as energetic and dance-inspiring as tUnE-yArDs, there was totally a sort of magical mystique to St. Vincent's set and in Annie Clark's overall demeanor and to say I didn't enjoy it would be a boldfaced lie. I know I plan on revisiting her albums and giving them another focused listen.

The concert as a whole was pretty interesting in only for the juxtaposition of the loud, energetic, skillful banging and crashing tUnE-yArDs and the calm, tranquil yet foreboding St. Vincent. It was obvious that those who hadn't heard of tUnE-yArDs before were certainly hooked but concert-goers might've been a bit disappointed by St. Vincent. One friend claimed to be underwhelmed by her performance but my theory is that St. Vincent meant to neither overwhelm nor underwhelm but merely create and capture a magical moment, to make you really listen and pay attention to what was occurring on stage and if that was in fact her goal, she succeeded in the most artful manner I've seen thus far.

Live!: John Craigie at The Cubbyhole

This thursday evening I had the great pleasure of seeing folk musician John Craigie play at show at The Cubbyhole coffeehouse in Poughkeepsie. Firstly because he traveled all the way from California and put a Poughkeepsie show on his East Coast tour but also because of the stellar caliber of his performing. John Craigie's guitar, vocal, and harmonica stylings were all top notch. Playing original songs and the occasional cover, taking audience requests, playing funny songs about Chuck Norris and a myriad of other topics, John Craigie was a real audience pleaser. The last time I attended a show at The Cubbyhole, I had the misfortune of sitting through one of those generic singer/songwriter types with predictable lyrics. Fortunately this show was not the case. John's lyrics were smart, his melodies memorable, and he gave off the vibe of someone that was truly glad to be doing what he does and to be playing for people. John Craigie might not be all that well known but he totally deserves to be. His talent is awe-inspiring as he adapted several of his "rowdier" songs to fit the mellow venue and played an audience requested "Wagon Wheel" pretty much effortless. Here's to hoping there's more on the horizon for this folk musician from California.

Check out John Craigie's music here at his myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/johncraigie