You’ve probably heard by now – Grizzly Bear are in the country and have just played their first gig at the City Recital Hall in Angel Place. Honestly, the venue couldn’t have a more annoying name and there is an endless list of clichés coursing through my brain – ‘the sound was heavenly!’ is my favourite at this point. Puke. But in truth, it was. The recital hall, more familiar with antique baroque and classical music performances, was cloaked in a fine layer of mist for the entire performance, which turned out to be a more than appropriate venue for Droste and Rossen’s ghostly vocal harmonies.
The depth of the sound (largely credited to the acoustics of the hall) was incredible as Taylor employed an array of classical instruments, looping pedals and plenty of reverb for the layers and harmonies for tracks Colorado, Fine for Now and Knife. They played a very tight set with a good selection of tracks from both Yellow House and their 2009 release Veckatimest as well as their contribution to the Dark Was the Night compilation, Deep Blue Sea, a treat for some of their more die hard fans.
Although everyone was on their best behaviour and somewhat subdued by the chastity of the venue, Two Weeks, While We Wait for the Others and Southern Point had people noticeably wriggling (read: dancing) in their seats. As for being entertainers, the boys from Brooklyn aren’t very talkative but then again, their music kind of says it all. If you missed out on tickets, you should probably kick yourself.
