“Unassuming,” I think, is a good way to describe a band. It’s a term I wish I could toss around more, but can’t with the bands that breeze throw this town. There are those who try so hard to look like rock stars and those who spend so much time cultivating some image in opposition to such tropes. There’s a third, not oft explored option, too. Take, for example, the tUnE-YaRdS. A duo. A male and female. They wear their own band shirts. They smile and jump when appropriate. They thank the audience when it applauds. It’s strange, frankly, seeing a band like this open for the currently ubiquitous Dirty Projectors. It’s stranger still watching as the group completely captivates and subsequently wins over the entire Bowery Ballroom audience, few of likely had little more than a passing knowledge of the band prior to Wednesday night.
The whole thing was downright magical. I wish I could say, listen to the band’s debut, Bird-Brains, and you’ll, like, totally get it. But I can’t. It’s a good record. Good and weird, but apologies in advance for making this uppity statement: you had to be there.
You had to be there when lead singer Merrill Garbus sampled layer over layer of percussion and transcendental vocals, alternating between the airy freak-folk warplings of Vashti Bunyan and something more akin to Afro-pop. And the bass player, Nate Brenner, stood there for a while quiet, partially obscured by the Dirty Projector synth that had already been setup and thus far neglected. But he always came in just in the nick of time and filled the duos sound up to full funk proportions.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an audience so completely won over by an opening act. It only took a fraction of a song before the place erupted in cheers—initially not sure what they were seeing, but still entirely happy to be along for the ride. For half and hour, many no doubt had forgotten why they’d initially plunked down the cash. They’d forgotten that bigger, buzzier band, the one with all of those late night TV shows under their belt.
The Dirty Projectors are unquestionably on top of the world at the moment, but damned if we couldn’t all watch the tUnE-YaRdS play all night.
Photo by www.flickr.com/photos/kdamo/
