Finally. A buzz band that didn't come from New York, London, Montreal or Omaha. Beirut, a band of young musicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico, played a very enthusiastic and spastic set at a sold out Great American Music Hall. With nary a guitar in sight, these guys played with horns, violins and "the ukes."
After reading all the blogs about these guys, I was expecting a really rough show. Beirut are fairly new, and their live act isn't exactly perfect. However, at GAMH, they were flawless. At least it seems like it to me. They played every chord and timed their trumpets just right. They were enthusiastic and engaged the crowd to yell, scream and do other things. And having the lead singer blow the horn but yet still have enough air in his lungs to sing the high notes also perplexes me.
"Postcards from Italy" is my favourite song from Gulag Orkestrar and they played it really well. These guys came on for 2 encores and played every single song they know. Which is, so they say, rare for these guys? And also, "Scenic World," my least favourite song in the album, actually sounded great live. "Prenzlauerberg" was a crooning masterpiece. Everytime the horns played, it seemed like a new, uplifting experience.
And they even went on the floor with the crowd. Kinda like how Art Brut does it. But Art Brut does it better.
What can I say? Beirut's buzz is well deserved.
Beer Rating:
1/2
1 comment:
I was at this show and it was fantastic - one of the better shows I've ever seen. I shot a couple of videos which are posted on YouTube:
Postcards from Italy
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