Grizzly Bear, Here We Go MagicGranada TheaterJune 15, 2009
Better than: pretending I wanted room to dance anyway...
There's nothing like a false start to a song to gauge an audience's mood at a concert. Take what happened seven songs into Grizzly Bear's set at the Granada Theater last night, for instance.
Dan Rossen, seated at his Rhodes piano Wurlitzer, tossed off the first few bars of the single "Two Weeks" before the rest of the band was ready. His bandmates stared h
Harlem, in its best Back to the Future III gear.Formed in Tucson, Arizona, but now residing in Austin, the band Harlem makes its way to our area quite often, delivering a unique brand of noise that takes inspiration from the fuzziest bands of the late '60s. Often erroneously compared to Nirvana and the Pixies, Harlem's clatter is much less rehearsed and much more stoned. The band's recently released effort, Free Drugs, is as plainspoken a statement of purpose as I've come across this year. So
Richard CardThat cassette tape might be gone now, too...VEGA got jacked.According to a blog post the band put up on its MySpace page yesterday, someone stole the band's gear on Wednesday night as the band toured through Sacramento, California.As of yet, Alan Palomo and Co. have not canceled VEGA's show with Grizzly Bear in New York City, festival dates at Fun Fun Fun Fest, or the September tour for his other project, Neon Indian.But he is asking for help: If you have a few bucks and can help
Banter is not Grizzly Bear's strong suit--not in the slightest. Rather this is a band propelled by meticulous instrumentation and harmonies. And though the band failed in the first count, its moot apologies to the crowd for putting up with the rain falling flat, the band succeeded glorious on the second, offering audiences empirical proof that live shows can equal a band's output on record--even in the rain, even on a festival stage without the same set-ups afforded a band in a theater p
Because it's OK to kill three birds with one stone...Check the above video, posted to Stereogum this morning, of St. Vincent performing her song "The Party" in Basel, Switzerland, with a little help from her European tourmate, Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear. It's an impressive take--for a few reasons, not the least of which is the dedication of the superfan who rushed to the front of the theater just to shoot the clip. Alan Palomo seems to be having no trouble maintaining his Pitchfork credibili
