Karen Elson, Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses
To continue my concert binge through out my first weekend here, I went back to BK for some great live shows at Williamsburg Waterfront. This show was the first of 101.9 RXP concert series and while the view (the East River... the sunset... sigh...) was breathtaking, the venue coordinators were retarded. When we arrived (unfortunately, a bit fashionably late, right after Elson had finished her set), we soon realized that there were three lines (one to enter the venue, another to actually enter the GA area, which was a one-out-one-in policy, another for beer tickets, another for... something else. Why you may ask? Like I said, retarded).
When we made it through the first set of lines, Grizzly Bear had just started and we were anxious to get in ASAP. Thank god the concert was outside because even though we were not actually inside the GA area, we could hear the flawless acoustics perfectly. This is my first time seeing GB live and I was so impressed; they sounded wonderful. Lead singer Ed Droste commanded the vocals with subtle, welcoming beauty, accompanied by his fellow band members' floating and powerfully wistful harmonies. GB played a mix of tracks from older albums, like Yellow House, as well as the newest one, Veckatimist, including hits like "Knife," and "Two Weeks," respectively. Before finishing off with "While You Wait for the Others" and "On a Neck, On a Spit," Droste graciously thanked the crowd for coming out and engaged everyone to sing along as they danced and threw back their buzzed heads in the hot summer air.
Band of Horses came onstage shortly after with a rockstar pep in their step. Not only was it their last show of of the tour, it was Father's Day, and lead singer Ben Bridell was thrilled to be going back his family so soon. Ultimately, the band was ready to end their tour with a bang, and they did. I am pretty familiar with BOH's debut album Everything all the Time and a few popular tracks from Cease to Begin. Unfortunately I don't know much from their newest, Infinite Arms. Either way, BOH packed a shit ton of great music to jam out to for a full night of rock debauchery - a sixteen track set list plus a four track encore. They played a couple of my (well-known) favorites - Funeral, The Great Salt Lake, No One's Gonna Love You, as well as some other great ones that I have never heard before but was glad to be introduced to for the first time live.
The crowd didn't want Band of Horses to leave the stage, and it was clear they didn't want to leave either. While the first half of the set was obviously dedicated to the music, the second half seemed dedicated to a wasted dude in the front row named Andrew, who they made shout outs to, and a couple lil diddy's for before moving on to the next song. It was their way of connecting with the audience, to reach out to fans, and everyone loved it (no matter how bizarrely obsessed they seemed to be with Andrew).
By the time BOH finally finished the show with "Monsters" it was already dark. The air was cooler and people were ready to get even crazier post show. And they did. It was a Sunday night but the Williamsburg streets were crowded with happy partiers and boozed up couples.
Cheers.
We <3 Andrew
Ed Droste, Grizzly Bear
Ben Bridell, Band of Horses
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