Wow... This was my second time hearing one of my favorite bands perform with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra at BAM, the first being Joanna Newsom last year. Once again the mix of experimental melodic folk and indie rock matched perfectly with the orchestra.
I did not enjoy Final Fantasy much at all. The last composition or 2 were nice pieces when accompanied by the Orchestra, but I really could not get into his 'songs', and I don’t like the way he sings at all. He seems to like to jump from key to key in a way that is not pleasing to my ears at all.
Grizzly Bear was fantastic, absolutely amazing performance. I've been listening to these guys since they released Yellow House and I had the pleasure of seeing them live last year at the All Points West festival, needless to say this blew that performance away. Musically they were all on point, I did not hear any missed noted; they play very clearly, and seem to spend time on each note, nothing wasted. The music is somewhat simple, but textured by soundscapes and interesting rhythms. Every small part was accentuated with the Orchestra behind them. There was one time in the beginning of a song, where they seemed off tempo, but they quickly picked it back up.
The selection of songs was excellent, 1 song from the first album "Campfire", a few new songs, and a bunch from Yellow House. In the pitchfork interview Ed Droste did a few weeks back, he mentioned in regards to playing "Knife" that "I think we've done it at every single show we've ever played". I guess that makes this show a record, as they did not perform it. If memory serves correctly, they also did not play "Lullabye" or "One A Neck, On A Spit" which I really wanted to hear with the orchestra.... Those misses aside, I enjoyed every minute of their performance. "Two Weeks" was awesome, such a great new song. "Colorado" was a highlight for me, I love that song. They even played a few songs that they have never performed live, such as "Central Remote", came across as if they had played it 100 times before.
Ed's singing was really impressive, with that signature soaked in reverb sound, he really resonated perfectly, beautiful voice! With every member singing, their harmonies were perfect and at times reminded me of Fleet Foxes. The drummer really impressed me, his jazzy style, is distinct and essential to the music. Really great band on the whole, I’ll catch them live again at every opportunity I get.
Monday, March 2, 2009
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