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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