On A Neck On A Spit

concert review: Grizzly Bear, Beach House @ The Mod Club (Toronto, Ontario), September 20, 2007

Sorry for the latesness of this following review. Grizzly Bear with openers Beach House played an early show at The Mod Club last Thursday September 20. It was obvious to me from the get-go that The Mod Club was not an appropriate venue for the show. Given the relative subduedness of both of the acts, Grizzly Bear and their acoustic, experimental psych-folk and Beach House, a duo on electric guitar and electric organ who play languid pop music alternating between desolate and blurry and miasmic, plus the mostly banter-less sets(aside from some polite acknowledgements), it was a show that I couldn't appreciate standing up. Sitting cross-legged on the floor in a more serene venue like The Music Gallery or a more intimate venue like Sneaky Dee's would have been preferable. That said, given my relative unfamiliarity with both bands, except for a few samples I've heard through their MySpaces, I came away from the show for an appreciation for both bands.

Beach House perform music that sounds sad[if not lyrically, probably is], featuring vocalist Victoria Legrand's sombre vocals, and humming electric organ arrangements and guitarist Alex Scally's electric guitar which alternated between slide and fuzzy. The songs maintained a fairly consistent languid pace, beautiful at times(well, many times), and the melodies were for the most part strong, but over the course of an entire set, it was a bit sleepy.

Grizzly Bear fared better with their musically more diverse set. If the melodies weren't so sparkling at times I might have judged some of their more experimental instrumental arrangements as art-school student noodling. Acoustic Simple guitar was at the basis of most of the songs and vocal harmonizing was also creatively utilized but there were also more experimental aspects at times. It was refreshing to see lead vocal duties alternate between Ed Droste, Daniel Rosen, and Chris Taylor. The lush vocal harmonies and creative but never busy musical arrangements of "Knife" were a reminder that Grizzly Bear can, when they want to, create beautiful and interesting pop music.

Check out some photos from the show below. More photos over at my Flickr.





MySpace: Grizzly Bear
Video: Grizzly Bear - "He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)" (Crystals cover - live at The Mod Club - Sept 20, 2007)
MySpace: Beach House

- live Grizzly Bear video above courtsey of mazzystarr83