Having never had the pleasure of seeing one of my very favourite bands before, expectation was understandably high. As was my apprehension. But, like so many of the gigs I have been too recently, it did not disappoint.
Their support came in the form of London trio, Male Bonding, a band that I had heard great things about but only a couple of singles. Superficially an odd choice to open for a band as intellectual and seemingly serious as Dirty Projectors, they in fact provided the perfect complement. Much to my chagrin, not all of the crowd seemed to agree; yet their brand of noise pop, catchy hooks, equally catchy melodies and more noise may not be to everyone’s taste. They may have been loud but they were good loud. The drumming was fast, impressive and precise and the other two weren’t too bad, either.
Their songs may have not been as original as other current bands’ (the act they were opening for being prime among them) but their mid-nineties-influenced material was performed with aplomb. So much so that I am have already got hold of their LP.
After they finished, the old theatre really began to get packed out. The sort of polite jostling that one only gets at brainy indie bands’ gigs was rife. When lead singer Dave Longstreth appeared on stage to fiddle with his guitars, the reaction was muted. When he appeared with the rest of his band the reception was raucous. They proceeded to play several songs I hadn’t heard, off this year’s Björk collaboration, Mount Wittenburg Orca, along with a Bob Dylan cover; and every note was met with an almost trance-like reaction from the crowd.
Every song was marked with some virtuoso musicianship, whether from the spidery fingers of Longstreth and his impressive guitar playing or the siren-like brilliance of Amber Coffman et al.’s backing vocals. So fine were their arpeggiating melodies that I found it hard to believe they could be done live. Particular highlights included the r’n’b crowd-pleaser Stillness is the Move and epic set-closer Rise Above; though, given the all round brilliance, picking highlights seems unfair. Everyone seemed happy, aside from a few lads heard complaining in the queue on the way out. About what I shall never know.
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