Grizzly Bear and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, March 1
by Randall Roberts
March 3, 2008 3:45 PM
Grizzly Bear and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Saturday, March 1
photos by Timothy Norris
You knew Saturday night was turning magical when a roustabout in the audience at Walt Disney Concert Hall let out a yelp of glee during the LA Philharmonic's octane-fueled performance of Igor Stravinsky's “Firebird” suite. It was right after one of the peaks – I think it was during the Infernal Dance part, when the brass section collides with the strings like a tanker-truck hitting a freight train. The bellow, much deserved, poked a hole through the classical propriety, and, emboldened, the orchestra simmered into the beautiful lullaby of the fifth section like a barely lit ember.
The Phil, under the guidance of assistant director Joana Carneiro, moved through Benjamin Britten's "Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes" and Luigi Boccherini's Ritirata notturna di Madrid (Luciano Berio's 1975 kinda-sorta remix) with joyful ease. The three pieces, chosen in conference with Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear, showcased dynamics, moved from gentility and grace to chaotic release. 18446/
Grizzly Bear took the stage after brief intermission, and the room, which during the orchestral part was bathed in neutral light, turned black, as if the shades were suddenly drawn. For the rest of the evening, Disney Hall shifted from burgundy to gold and green and back again, painted the four handsome men of Grizzly Bear -- Daniel Rossen (voice/guitar), Ed Droste (voice/keyboards/guitar), Chris Taylor (bass/clarinet/flute/effects) and Christopher Bear (percussion) -- with a glisten, made them seem like they were lit up from the inside.
The bells that dot “Easier,” their first song, rang like fine champagne glasses toasting the beginning an elegant dinner party; they drifted through the hall in cascades and pirhouettes, and from that first moment Grizzly Bear owned the crowd. The band, one of the best in America, delivers a curious mix of folk, indie and art rock, creates this unclassifiable bouquet of beauty which has at its center some of the most stunning, spot-on harmonies recorded this century. Drawing from girl groups of the 1960s, from the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel and those ethereal choirs on Martin Denny exotica records, from the Ink Spots and the Comedian Harmonists and the Flamingos, Grizzly Bear's four members, each an accomplished musician in his own right (three of the four members first met at high school jazz camp), on Saturday night seemed touched. Against the backdrop of Frank Gehry's angular organ pipe sculpture, the show felt as much like church as it did a rock concert. When, during “Knife,” which sounds like the Velvet Underground backing a doo-wop group, Chris Bear let out an Yma Sumac-esque falsetto wail, he stood on his tippy toes like he could barely reach the note he was trying to hit, and once he grabbed hold of it, he held onto it as if for dear life. (“I wish my clarinet teacher were here,” said the affable Bear during a break. “She would be so proud of me.”)
Click here to read an unedited, fascinating talk with Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen.
The band's two principal vocalists, Edward Droste and Daniel Rossen, swapped songs throughout the night. When they played “Little Brother,” which Rossen sings high in the register with a chrome-plated tone, “My little brother was a solemn one,” your heart breaks because of his ability to infuse the line with so much sorrow, but lifts when he draws from deep within to declare, “my little brother will be born again.” All four men locked into a run of “aahhhs” as strong and tight as anything on Pet Sounds, then moved into a loud bass, guitar and drum crescendo as noisily harmonic as Sonic Youth in their prime, before letting the volume dissipate into the ether. Droste sang the gorgeous “Marla,” written, he explained, by his great aunt in the 1930s. It sounded like an ancient song -- something about the melody recalled Kurt Weill – but Grizzly Bear dusted it off and shined it up until it sparkled. They did this over and over again, created beautiful set pieces so rich with texture, melody and wonder that you felt like you were witnessing not only a great performance by a great band, but something more important, something truly special, something that fifty years hence will be recalled by those who attended with an eye-twinkle and a smile.
Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
Trackbacks
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt.laweekly.com/mt-tb.cgi/50941
-
Cobrasnake in Mexico City, 8/19/08
Also the Boredoms and friends set up 88 drum kits in the La Brea tar pits -
Nightranger: LCD Soundsystem and Mondo Hollywood shows
The Wooly Bandits and a Hollywood pool party -
Air Apparent: Photos from China's Most Polluted Province
In Shanxi Province, the pollution problem is even worse than you thought
Recent Posts
- The Smell's Fantastic New Website
- Eliott Smith's Wall, Five Years On
- Live in L.A.: Pop Levi and the Parson Red Heads at the Echo, August 15
- Weiss' Muxtape #9-The I've Either Got Mono Or I'm Just Really Bored Blues
- John McCain's Favorite Songs of the Past 100 Years
- Pop Levi's new "Fountain of Lies" video released, Echo residency tonight
- Koushik-Out My Window
- Flyers of the Week: Dirty Sailor / Sunset Junction
- "Jockin" is JV-The Lethargy of Post-Retirement Jay-Z
- Metallica to Play Holiday Show at the Forum
Archives
|
Monthly |
Category |
Featured Stories
Air Apparent: Photos from China's Most Polluted Province
In Shanxi Province, the pollution problem is even worse than you thought… View Slideshow »
Air Apparent: Photos from China's Most Polluted Province
In Shanxi Province, the pollution problem is even worse than you thought… View Slideshow »
Exiles on Main Street: Searching for the Ghosts of Bunker Hill's Native American Past
Resuscitated 1961 documentary recalls stark lives of L.A.'s urban Indians
By Matthew Fleischer
It’s a Sunday night in downtown Los Angeles and my friend, Kumeyaay Indian filmmaker Cedar Sherbert, hits me with an interesting question. … Keep Reading »
Branding Griffith Park: Heirs of Land's Bequeather Fight Commercialization Plan
Griffith J. Griffith's great-grandson: "It’s not a theme park. It’s not a movie studio. People don’t want to see it turned into Disneyland ..."
By David Ferrell
PERHAPS NOWHERE IS THE CURRENT PUSH led by Los Angeles City Hall and its platoon of private lobbyists for an overbuilt, overcommercialized, re-engineered L.A. better epitomized than in the unfolding struggle over the so-called Melendrez Master Plan for Griffith Park. … Keep Reading »
The Anime Collective: Baka Deshi Productions
Where the otaku world and music geekdom collide
By Liz Ohanesian
Anneke knew that she hadn’t won the competition. She said this to a group of four people — a friend, a reporter and two random college students, one wearing blue plastic sunglasses and another dressed as the lead character of the vampire anime series Hellsing — while standing outside the Nokia Theatre. … Keep Reading »
Art Around Town
Flashism
By CHRISTOPHER MILES
Kori Newkirk at LAXART (Click to enlarge) Kori Newkirk, Rank, (2007) … Keep Reading »
Latest Blogs
Is Ryan Seacrest Now In Play? His Agent About To Become His Production Partner
Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily
Tue, Aug 19, 3:11 pm
News
Branding Griffith Park: Heirs of Land's Bequeather Fight Commercialization Plan
By David Ferrell
Griffith J. Griffith's great-grandson: "It’s not a theme park. It’s not a movie studio. People don’t want to see it turned into Disneyland ..."
Metro Sales-Tax Shell Game
By Max Taves
A $40 billion promise fuels suspicion of an agency that has lied large before
"Parks and Wreck": Reporter's Wide-Open Spaces?
By L.A. Weekly readers
Also, Palisades residents respond to Weekly's "Rathouse" cover story
Who's Your Daddy? Why John Edwards' Sex Life Is Our Business Too
By MARC COOPER
He was right about two Americas -- if only one didn't exist in his swollen head
Villaraigosa: Faking an Economic Miracle
By MAX TAVES
Mayor sought a study saying East and South L.A. are booming. They're not
Space Race Two: SoCal Loses Fight for Private Space Terminal to New Mexico
By MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN
State turns instead to manufacturing ships, suits, even diapers
Food
Crudo Bar & Ristorante: Getting Raw on the Strip
By Jonathan Gold
The Italian mood is swell, but why so little crudo?
Kamiyama: The Way California Rolls
By Jonathan Gold
Waterpillars, Krunch rolls and Philly Slurs — South Bay sushi mecca has it all
Earlez Grille: Hot Dog Thrillers
By Jonathan Gold
Sit at Duane Earle's place long enough, and all of Crenshaw passes by
Columns
HoopLA
Reviving Dead Kennedys, Rolling Over Beethoven and Revisiting Tennessee
By SIRAN BABAYAN
What to do in L.A., August 15-21
¡Ask a Mexican!®
Angry About "Anchor Babies"
By Gustavo Arellano
Dear Mexican: As a Mexican, I’m always ashamed of the fact that a lot…
Theater Reviews: Freedom of Speech, Just Like White People
By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics
Also, Winter, the Groundlings' latest and more
Theater Reviews: Gulls, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Howlin' Blues and Dirty Dogs
By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics
Also Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer and more
Art / Books
A Meeting of the Strange Minds: Peter Ivers, David Lynch and Devo
By JOSH FRANK
History is made at midnight: Excerpt from Josh Frank's In Heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers and the Lost History of New Wave Theatre
A Considerable Town
Retired Russian Army Colonel Criticizes U.S. Actions in Iraq Even as Tanks Roll in Georgia
By STEVEN LEIGH MORRIS
Yuri Yuryevich, also a former journalist, says idea of Russian censorship was concocted by the West — investigative journalism no problem as long as president isn't criticized
Signs of the Dov: The American Apparel Flea Market and the Search for the Next Top Billboard Model
By GINA POLLACK
Shoppers wait five hours just to browse for T-shirts
For Those Who Stand Long . . . A Led Zeppelin Reunion?
By RANDALL ROBERTS
Checking out the rumors at the Sunset Marquis' Gibson Through the Lens reception
Living Room On the Street: Public Parking on a Sofas Level
By ADAM GROPMAN
San Francisco landscape architect takes the indoors outside in L.A. neighborhoods
Pucker Up
Straight Men Who Have Sex With Men
By Tristan Taormino
Inside the secret world of the straight guise
Choose Your Path: Sex-Demon or...Uh, a Walrus
Wed, Aug 20, 11:00 am
DC unveiled the fourth wave of their World of Warcraft figures, but let's not fool ourselves—all you guys really care about is the sexy figure, […]
1920s Batman Returns in "Mark of the Mad Hatter"
Wed, Aug 20, 10:05 am
The good news: the guy doing the silent film version of Batman let himself use some of the 1940s Batman serial, so Batman looks like […]
Savage Love
Now Read This!
Woody Allen's European Vacation
By Scott Foundas
An interview with the director of Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Movie Reviews: The Midnight Meat Train, Mirrors, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
By L.A. Weekly Movie Critics
George Lucas, that greedy visionary, is now in the infomercial manufacturing business
Retired Russian Army Colonel Criticizes U.S. Actions in Iraq Even as Tanks Roll in Georgia
By Steven Leigh Morris
Yuri Yuryevich, also a former journalist, says idea of Russian censorship was concocted by the West
The Downtown LA Film Fest: Grand Opening, Shaky Day 2
By Luke Y. Thompson
One of the catches of this festival -- the venues aren't all near each other. You can break a real sweat walking from the Orpheum to the Laemmle Grande
Features
China's First Gold: Carbon Dioxide Emissions
By Teun Voeten
Air apparent: a photo essay from Beijing and beyond
Exiles on Main Street: Searching for the Ghosts of Bunker Hill's Native American Past
By Matthew Fleischer
Resuscitated 1961 documentary recalls stark lives of L.A.'s urban Indians
Lonnie Kane
By Steven Mikulan
In a land of sweatshops, Karen Kane Inc. stands out by paying its workers full medical benefits even in hard economic times
Making Fiends: Amy Winfrey's Animated Vendetta
By Gendy Alimurung
Already a Web hit, Winfrey's monster series prepares to attack kid TV
Movies
Woody Allen's European Vacation: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
By Scott Foundas
He lived the young man's dream in Spain; next, he directs Larry David in NYC and Puccini for L.A. Opera
Bardem Farce: Javier Makes Whoopee With Scarlett, Rebecca and Penelope
By Scott Foundas
Leave it to Woody Allen to make a romantic comedy in which all the…
Tropic Thunder: Jungle Feverish
By Scott Foundas
If only Ben Stiller and company were as hot and naughty as the P.C. protesters complain
Movie Reviews: The Midnight Meat Train, Mirrors, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
By L.A. Weekly Movie Critics
Also, Henry Poole Is Here, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer and more
TLA Releasing's Combination Platter: A Queer-Film Minifest
By Chuck Wilson
Sexy hitmen, gay life after 40 and French promiscuity
Soul and the City: Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles
By Jim Ridley
A "lost" classic makes its long overdue theatrical debut
Dope Test: The One John Edwards Didn't Pass
By ROBERT ABELE
I watched a good deal of the sweat, struggle and crushing loss over the…
The Anime Collective: Baka Deshi Productions
By Liz Ohanesian
Where the otaku world and music geekdom collide
From Decor to Door Whores
By Lina Lecaro
A peek inside some Hollywood hot spots. Plus, LCD Soundsystem and Mondo Hollywood shows
Rock Picks: Warped Tour, Glen Campbell, Pop Levi, Valient Thorr
By L.A. Weekly Music Critics
Also, Previously on Lost, Raphael Saadiq, Liz Pappademas
LA Vida
The Chumby Diaries: A Partial-Attention Love-Hate Story
By Gendy Alimurung
Is the ambient widget device a friend who will share corn-bread recipes and glimpses at its panda cam, or a foe who will steal your passwords?
Greenwashed and Dyed: Nori's Eco Salon
By GENDY ALIMURUNG
Nontoxic hair color under the shredded-denim ceilings of a Greenopia-recommended beauty parlor
Is Ryan Seacrest Now In Play? His Agent About To Become His Production Partner
Tue, Aug 19, 4:11 pm
EXCLUSIVE: I have huge news for the Hollywood tenpercentery world. Network sources tell me that Adam Sher, who has been Ryan Seacrest's longtime William Morris agent for 8 1/2 years, is leaving the rep business to run Ryan Seacrest Productions. This means that Seacrest may now be in play, so watch every major agency make a pitch for [...]
New Line About To Party Like It's 2007...
Tue, Aug 19, 2:37 pm
Say you're a downsized Hollywood studio that recently laid off almost all your employees. Well, if you're New Line you throw the annual summer staff party for those remaining few. Ex-New Liners are emailing me that the pool party on Thursday at Skybar will cost $35,000 and "all 48 employees will be there to swim in the blood [...]
Best of L.A. '07
Best of L.A. 2007 Armageddon it!
The last things we'd ever do
L.A. People '08
Lonnie Kane
By Steven Mikulan
In a land of sweatshops, Karen Kane Inc. stands out by paying its workers full medical benefits even in hard economic times
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Comments
There are 2 comments posted for this article.
this band is the best band out there today. that show blew me away
Posted on March 4, 2008 8:51 PM by lllooo
The knife vocals and clarinet teacher comment were Chris Taylor (photo shows him playing the clarinet). Chris Bear is the Drummer.
Posted on March 10, 2008 9:04 PM by Anonymous