Grizzly Bear, Here We Go Magic, 6/22 @ Fillmore [Photos]
Grizzly Bear have found themselves, much like their namesake animal, at the top of the indie rock food chain. They’ve been gaining attention and appreciation since their 2006 debut, Horn of Plenty, and there seemed to be a groundswell of anticipation leading up to the release of 2009’s Veckatimest. Reaction has been near unanimously positive, with favorable reviews from the hipster elite and the everyman alike.
They’ve spent this Spring touring all over the world, headlining festivals and playing sold out concerts. We caught up with the quartet as they finished off their 30-date tour with a two-night stand at the Fillmore here in San Francisco.
[All photos by Laura Ciekot]
Grizzly Bear
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Grizzly Bear started their set out with Veckatimest opener “Southern Point”, and stuck mostly to songs from that album, breaking out only three songs from their back catalog, “Colorado”, “Service Bell” (from 2009’s Dark Was the Night compilation) and “Knife”.
The encore consisted of a single stripped-down song, a stroll through the under-rated “All We Ask” with only a single acoustic guitar, a floor tom and four voices.
While there were no guest appearances, unusual covers or any other surprises, Grizzly Bear’s live show was much like Veckatimest itself, engaging and effortlessly beautiful, but perhaps also a little formulaic and controlled.
Here We Go Magic
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It’s always a little daunting to see a “studio” band in a live setting. Luke Temple, who started Here We Go Magic as a solo side-project, wrote and recorded the entire album by himself before pulling together a full band to support the record on tour.
If you didn’t know better, you’d guess that they’d been a full band for years. The vaguely afro-pop rhythms and electronic textures translated surprisingly well live and Temple’s manic update on Byrne and Bowie brought his songs even more to life.
Their performance made the Talking Heads comparisons even stronger (the bassist could even pass as Tina Weymouth in a pinch), but it was Temple’s great songs and the band’s tight playing that left the lasting impression.
As a bonus, check out the brand new video for “Fangela”.
As always, nice pics LC!
interesting article but i think being “effortlessly beautiful, but perhaps also a little formulaic and controlled.” is a contradiction. either you are effortless or you are controlled. you really cannot be both.
Thanks for the comment Jared. But I disagree – I get the impression these guys could write and perform beautiful music in their sleep, but the performance still felt a little choreographed or cautious – they didn’t seem to be pushing boundaries or taking risks.
I hope I’m not coming off as too harsh – Veckatimest is one of my top three albums of the year so far, and this show was also on a very short list of the year’s best – but I had very high expectations and was struck by how routine everything seemed to them.
I’d still take cautiously beautiful over adventorously bad any day of the week, but like I said, I expect a lot from my favorite bands.
Nice pix. I was there on Sunday night, not Monday. Did they cover Yes’ “Owner of a Lonely Heart” on Monday? I was so hoping for them to pull that cover out. One of my favorites. For me the show felt far from routine on Sunday. I was entranced!
No covers at all – I was hoping for that one or some Paul Simon, but no dice on either.
Glad to hear you dug it so much. I’m probably coming across as too critical — I enjoyed every second of it, but it just seemed like there could have been even more
Jay, I know exactly what you’re talking about. There’s certain bands that are super-sick live, but still miss that kind of raw feel you want from a live show. I actually can’t think of an example right now, but everything about the show is great, it just lacks that emotional touch or energy and comes across as too breezy or contrived.
Pics by…?
Oops. I’m a bad person and didn’t give credit for the awesome photos. All photos are by our excellent (and lovely) photo editor, Laura Ciekot.