For silentkid mostly: Ghostland Observatory gig review
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:13 pm
Its really too bad these guys didn't play SXSW this year. You'll have to look out for an opportunity to see them, though from the looks of their tour schedule that won't be happening soon.
It was a very great and fun show. Aaron Berens is packed with charisma. He's like a Sherman Alexie character: some kind of hybrid urban/native american embracing all pop culture traditions continuously and furiously. His moves are so, so very cool and sexy. Such confident strutting! I love it when someone can hold a stage with just a microphone.
Live I could hear (and see) the Freddie Mercury/Queen homage, though the channeling of James Brown is most apparent. The music also sounded much richer live than in recorded versions. The keyboard work was more full and orchestral and obviously the low, low, bass beats were much more overwhelming. What was surprising was how good Berens was on the songs he played guitar on, and how much he played it. His voice was great live and really held up despite the punishing form of singing he does.
The only thing off was a light show too overwhelming for the venue. If you were further back in the crowd your vision would mostly be obscured by the bank of white lights. Fortunately, I was able to get pretty close and he favored the side of the stage I was on.
They played a long set, pretty much all three albums worth with three encores. At the end of the night Berens's trademark tight white pants were completely and kind of hilariously sopping wet. I don't think he stopped moving during the entire time he was on stage except at one point where he sat on his haunches and looked out over the crowd in a kind of lost in thought moment.
The downside was the crummy venue. I hate Webster Hall; it has firetrap written all over it (horrible exit bottlenecks) and the stickiest and grossest floor this side of peep show. And the crowd---argh. Apparently NYU students are a collection of dweebs and dorks (I'm assuming the audience was overwhelmingly made up of kids from the nearby dorms, but I could be wrong). I didn't think it was possible for me wish there were hipster trucker hats or ironic thrift tees around the place, but I'll take that over the dreaded baseball cap 'n polo shirt with the collar turned up sported by the soul-and-rythym-less gyraters I was standing next to. Lots of hands-in-the-air by people who should never, ever try that. I was prepared to cold cock the first business major whose elbow made contact with my head. And what's up with oblivious tall guys blocking the view of shorter girls? Huh? Man, back in my day, we had concert etiquette---even in the pit!
I admit I'm real hater these days, I can hardly go to show without getting on my old person high horse. I remember exactly when I turned this corner too: a Pavement show at Roseland in 1996. At the sight of so many lunchbox handbags, something inside just snapped...
It was a very great and fun show. Aaron Berens is packed with charisma. He's like a Sherman Alexie character: some kind of hybrid urban/native american embracing all pop culture traditions continuously and furiously. His moves are so, so very cool and sexy. Such confident strutting! I love it when someone can hold a stage with just a microphone.
Live I could hear (and see) the Freddie Mercury/Queen homage, though the channeling of James Brown is most apparent. The music also sounded much richer live than in recorded versions. The keyboard work was more full and orchestral and obviously the low, low, bass beats were much more overwhelming. What was surprising was how good Berens was on the songs he played guitar on, and how much he played it. His voice was great live and really held up despite the punishing form of singing he does.
The only thing off was a light show too overwhelming for the venue. If you were further back in the crowd your vision would mostly be obscured by the bank of white lights. Fortunately, I was able to get pretty close and he favored the side of the stage I was on.
They played a long set, pretty much all three albums worth with three encores. At the end of the night Berens's trademark tight white pants were completely and kind of hilariously sopping wet. I don't think he stopped moving during the entire time he was on stage except at one point where he sat on his haunches and looked out over the crowd in a kind of lost in thought moment.
The downside was the crummy venue. I hate Webster Hall; it has firetrap written all over it (horrible exit bottlenecks) and the stickiest and grossest floor this side of peep show. And the crowd---argh. Apparently NYU students are a collection of dweebs and dorks (I'm assuming the audience was overwhelmingly made up of kids from the nearby dorms, but I could be wrong). I didn't think it was possible for me wish there were hipster trucker hats or ironic thrift tees around the place, but I'll take that over the dreaded baseball cap 'n polo shirt with the collar turned up sported by the soul-and-rythym-less gyraters I was standing next to. Lots of hands-in-the-air by people who should never, ever try that. I was prepared to cold cock the first business major whose elbow made contact with my head. And what's up with oblivious tall guys blocking the view of shorter girls? Huh? Man, back in my day, we had concert etiquette---even in the pit!
I admit I'm real hater these days, I can hardly go to show without getting on my old person high horse. I remember exactly when I turned this corner too: a Pavement show at Roseland in 1996. At the sight of so many lunchbox handbags, something inside just snapped...
