Twin Shadow plays Glasslands (9/11/10)

In the early morning of September 11th, 2010 I was informed by friends of a show, Twin Shadow, that was going down later in the evening at Glasslands, 289 Kent Ave. With tickets available online for purchase I decided to go see a band(s) I’ve never heard of at a venue I’d never been to – an experiment I would make of my evening!
Managing to wrangle Ethan and Giulia, a visiting friend from Santa Cruz with her brothers and sister in-law in tow, we forged our way down Bedford Ave to the venue. Sadly we were a little late in our arrival and missed the first two, of five, bands that were playing. Meh.

The venue itself was large with a balcony that looked down upon the eccentrically decorated stage and the bar (that seemed designed simply for beer, shots and basic mixed drinks). While the next band was setting up, I armed myself with a tall Rolling Rock can and shot of whiskey and then searched for a good spot to post at to take in My Gold Mask as they readied their sound levels.

This Chicago based guy/girl two-piece was fun to watch. The immediate reasons being: they are from my hometown and, one of my kryptonite(s) happen to be cute girls in glasses that play music. That said, their music was fun too. Her higher toned voice was nice as she carried elongated notes and smashed the shit out of her drum set. Between the two, they harmonized well and created, with the limited instruments they were equipped with, good song structure. I will note the band turned up the energy for the last two songs that I wish was present for their whole set. Nonetheless, it was a nice way to start this experimental concert-going experience.
Time for a refill.

The following band was Zambri, two sisters backed by a drummer and a guitar/key-board/drum machine player-dude.

With the two sisters changing instruments, lead vocals and positions about the stage the music they created varied from slower, more vocal-based songs, to the fun and dancey hits that included the familiar cow-bell and solid drum beats. They actually reminded me of Out Hud and Santigold – which was awesome. They had a great ability to stir the crowd into a tizzy of dance and excitement which was endearing and entertaining as they were adorned with eccentric head-wear and/or dress. Again, another good find that I will most likely look up and listen to in the future.

Between Zambri and the final band Ethan, Giulia and I went outside for a cigarette which is when I noticed two large ‘spot lights’ in the sky. I, forgetful of the day, asked if those were for something in Manhattan related to Fashion Week (which is currently underway). I looked, sounded and felt like an idiot when I realized they were the lights emitting from ground zero. I’m gunna guess there was not a party going on there… New York, I promise I won’t be so ignorant next year.

Thusly, onto the final band: Twin Shadow.

I will preface my knowledge of this band as being described as a hodge-podge between Prince and New Order (which is why I so readily bought tickets to the show). I will further say: “yeah, no – totally not Prince meets New Order.” Not to derogate the band’s clout; they were still very impressive and entertaining to hear and see.

With, from I can best recall at this point, dancey guitar riffs and moving drum beats, the band commanded the crowd into a flowing motion of movement and excitement which included a number of audience members (that I would conclude to be their friends) joining them on stage to incite further dance and revels. With a sincere passion toward performance, Twin Shadow seemed to thrive on the audience’s grand response, mine included, and channel it into the energy of the show and experience.

With a great set and response from the audience, the show concluded and it was time to go home.

As an odd momentary anecdote after leaving the show, I did stumble across this odd ’white party’. Which I’ve now learned is a “thing that happens.”

[editorial note: VitaminC4 will never actively review an event of this sort]

As a closure to this review, I did quickly return home to find the Hispanic residents of the first floor sloppily strewing about, where they then offered me a beer and we exchanged broken English/Spanish banter.

Lesson learned: Being half-Mexican, I need to speak better Spanish.

Tags: bad mexican, Brooklyn, Glasslands Gallery, My Gold Mask, new york, september 11th, Twin Shadow, Zambri

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 7:07 am by Austin and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.