Beirut with The Vassar Orchestra, and Kaki King

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music last night, every hipster in the greater NY area gathered to act like responsible adults in an auditorium. Apparently Beirut wasn't feeling like being responsible. This was far and away the most dissappointing Beirut show I have ever seen. I have seen them in various settings in the last 3 years, and last night was in my head, supposed to be a transition from Beirut the band that plays mid size, dirty venues to the mature band that can actually hold court in a concert hall. This was not the case.

Kaki King opened, and despite a bit too much banter, she and her drummer are obviously musicians. They filled the space, her skill on the guitar, and his on the drums were litterally breathtaking. I was in awe. This is amusing because I saw her play when I was in college and remember her being crazy good then, but you know, time and beer rot the brain....

When Beirut took the stage, S and I were thrilled. Not only were were going to see Beirut orchestrated, we were going to get to sit! I stupidly believed this farce and wore cute little heels, assuming that standing in an opera house was sacreligious. As I said, I am stupid. The first thing young Zach did was ask that people stand, and come up to the stage. I was PISSED. I really wanted to sit. That was not to be. The thing was that we were seated in the orchestra, so we were on this ridiculous incline, the whole night. People around us were obviously pissed too, and we didn't even have that ood of seats, so I bet that those in the front weren't happy. To top it off, Beirut played weakly. They weren't filling the space, they weren't in tune, they weren't together, and I am pretty sure that ZC was stoned. He was mumble slurring into the microphone and it was underwhelming. Made worse by the fact that Kaki had really filled the space, their efforts were just cutting it. That one horn player who is amazing was there, and that kid who looks like Zach Effron, and the curly haired accordian player, and a new drummer? It seemed like the group was a bit smaller than usual, but that could have to do with the Vassar orchestra being there (its a little unclear to me) (and I think its a different group every time anyway).

As soon as the orchestra took the stage things improved drastically, although ZC was still very clearly making mistakes. The orchestra helped to fill out the sound a little bit, and really brought the music to life. I think one of the things that makes Beirut so wonderful is that the music really has a life of its own, often with lots of random instruments and voices. On the whole, it was still fun, and I am still glad I went ($50 glad? Birthday present glad? Not sure...) but nonetheless, it was better than a sharp kick, so I'll take it.

The other thing, is that I have really high expectations for this band in particular, because their music is smart, and their act is well maintained and put togehter. This show was none of those things. It felt like the cool guy at school was somehow messing everything up. Like everyone had such high expectations for him and he wasn't meeting them. That must be a tremendous amount of pressure. Pressure that I sure don't want. However, that is part of being a professional, its doing things correctlyunder pressure. I think at this point in his career people are no longer giving him a break for being young and inexperienced. I hope he isn't pulling a Lindsay or a Brittney, growing too big, too fast and cracking under the pressure. I am sure he isn't, but I was not impressed.

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Dark Was the Night: An Album YOU Should Actually Buy

Compilations are seemingly rare in indie music, I am not sure why. Or if that's true. In any case, The National has curated a 2 disc compilation to be released by 4AD on February 16th. Just in case you aren't aware of the internet and you haven't already heard every track, I'm here to tell you that should you buy, not illegally download, this album. Not because it's fantastic, but because profits from the venture will go to the Red Hot Organization, which raises funds and awareness for AIDs and HIV. Although true to form, anything the National touches is excellent. And if this isn't enough to get you to go buy the friggen album, maybe this all-star cast will:

Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

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Build Yourself Some Good Karma

Ok so we just established that we all need some upbeat in our lives, but how about some good karma? If you are my friend on any sort of social media (e-mail, twitter, facebook etc) you are aware that I am currently campaigning for people to get their cheeks swabbed to check for the opportunity to donate bone marrow. So why would you donate bone marrow? We all know that it is pretty painful, but what about the outcome? For starters, that chances that you will be a DNA mach to a stranger are obscenely small, only 2 in 10 patients in need of bone marrow will ever get it (this includes from siblings I believe). So that means that your chances of getting called as a stranger are very, VERY small. And if you do get that call? Are you willing to have a needle stuck into your bone? Wouldn't you want a stranger to do that for your child, sibling, niece, nephew, friend, etc? I am both shocked and horrified that people are so unwilling to participate. So if you think that you are willing to do something selfless between now and yor 61st birthday, please follow this link:

Jasmina

<3 The Elephant