Photo by Jake Moore
Words: Kathryn Freund
If you haven’t heard the hype already, experimental Brooklyn-ites Dirty Projectors just ended a four-night sold out concert series in New York, playing at the Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg. I attended the second round of their home base gig marathon this past Thursday November 19th.
tUnE-YaRdS, brainchild of talented folk-singer-afro-beat-vocal-maven Merrill Garbus hit the stage before Dirty Projectors. Garbus, fittingly dressed in a silky zebra-print blouse, engaged the crowd with charm and refreshing sincerity that quickly won over every person in the room. It was a rare sight – typically apathetic Williamsburgers bobbing their heads and smiling from ear to ear. From beginning to end, Garbus’ powerful Nina Simone-esque voice filled the room with a booming battle cry as the crowd cheered for more. Nearly a one-woman show (she was also backed by bassist Nate Brenner for part of the set) Garbus jumped from ukulele to a voice-recording loop pedal to drums, at times within a single song. Playing tracks from her album Bird-Brains and a few unreleased numbers, she joked, “you better get your iPhones out.” Ending her set, she taunted the crowd, screaming “do you want to live!?!” as the chorus of hipsters belted “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” to the beat. With her down-to-earth charm, passionate connection with the crowd, and a voice that ranged from sweet whispers to an Aretha-like powerhouse, Garbus could have been headlining. One of the most inspiring openers I have ever seen, tUnE-YaRdS was most definitely a hard act to follow.
Photo courtesy of BrooklynVegan
At promptly 11, Dirty Projectors’s Dave Longstreth sauntered on stage in his usual quirky manner and set of nervous mannerisms. Opening with “No Intention,” Longstreth’s more reserved but still unique and intricate vocal solo performance was a nice contrast to Garbus’ powerhouse sound. As the entire band came on stage next, the crowd was writhing with excitement. They started with “Temecula Sunrise,” and you could feel chills in the room when the entire group nailed the first chord of the chorus flawlessly. Just to see 6 people so perfectly in tune with each other – both literally and figuratively – was truly amazing in itself.
While Dirty Projectors opened powerfully, though, as two members stepped off stage for part of the set (bassist Nat Baldwin and vocalist Haley Dekle) the group seemed to lose some of its fire. “Two Doves” featured Longstreth on guitar and Angel Deradoorian on vocals and served as a nice interlude at the end of the quartet segment, revealing how humble and soft-spoken the band is during performances. In
response to the crowd’s raucous applause at the end of the duet, Deradoorian gave the audience a shrug and coy smile.
Dirty Projectors, although an extremely talented collective of musicians, seem to lose some of their aura of musical awe in performances. In comparison with extremely expressive tUnE-YaRdS, DP almost came off as awkward and clumsy in their honest effort to
Photo by Jake Moore
connect with the crowd. Near the end of the show, Longstreth made an attempt at witty banter, but ended up mumbling something about irony and leaving the crowd puzzled.
Regardless of their social skills, Dirty Projectors beautifully intricate orchestral pop requires intense concentration, and that in itself is quite impressive. We only wish they would loosen up – even just a little.
This is not to say the show didn’t have its outstanding moments. Putting down her guitar and stepping out of her role as Longtreth’s right-hand woman, Amber Coffman belted gorgeous dancing lines and harmonies during “Stillness is the Move” that could give Mariah Carey a run for her money. DP finished its set strong, turning to this year’s critically acclaimed album Bitte Orca with opening and title tracks “Cannibal Resource” and “Bitte Orca” and returning to the stage for an encore performance of “Knotty Pine.” Brilliance is often difficult to communicate to the masses, and Dirty Projectors’s live show certainly suffers as a result. Nonetheless, witnessing their impressive technical precision is an experience not to miss next time this group comes to your hometown.
If you missed the show – a little taste of tUnE-YaRdS live:
tUnE-YaRdS “Hatari” from dublab on Vimeo.
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