If you plan to embed these videos, please link to this page. I’ll be posting more clips from this show in the coming days.
“Siki Siki Baba” (encore w/ the Gulag Orkestar)
Beirut’s last show at its three-day Bowery Ballroom residency was an absolute blast. It’s rare to like a show considerably more the second time, but tonight’s celebratory spirit and awesome crowd were exceptional. Perhaps it’s the familiarity built in two prior nights and the festive mood of jovial goodbyes. The band members were in top shape, as they were on Sunday, but everyone seemed more laid back and cheerier. There was even an adequate supply of confetti, and Owen Pallett’s animator-friend took on the job of shooting strips of ribbons from the stage. Zach might’ve been a little more drunk, too, and whatever the reason, he was a spirited frontman tonight (he said that Owen Pallett commented he made the best drunk frontman). Cafe Eclectica Music has reported that he is relocating from Brooklyn to Paris after a quick break in Montreal after these NYC shows. Tonight he was insistent that France won the World Cup, even integrating the sentiment into the lyrics at one point. He explained, “Sorry, I love France.”
The magical experience of Beirut is under the threat of annoying Zach-Condon-worshipping female fans- not all female fans, of course not, but there is a lot willing to shamelessly steal other people’s front row spots and openly offer themselves to Zach. The latter is excusable, though irritating (depending on the delivery/person), but pushing and shoving, trampling over each other even, as they did towards the end, to simply grab the set list from Zach was disturbing. Needless to say, I am also not a fan of continuous yelling of messages at the band, though half of these are usually fun. But people get carried away sometimes. One girl actually yelled, “You cancelled last year” (a band member responded by joking, “Security!”). New York is the only US city getting a Beirut treat at this time of the year when all other dates are non-US. Two fans next to me had driven all the way from Balitmore, and there seemed to be other out-of-towners, too, and I, for one, am thankful that these three dates were rescheduled. That they went to the trouble of bringing Gulag Okestar out, that they have Final Fantasy with them this time, that the performance was worth all the trouble fans have to go through and so on.
Night one of three NYC shows with Beirut at Bowery Ballroom, and Owen Pallett / Final Fantasy did not disappoint. He spins a colorful world by weaving layer after layer on his violin and then some on keys. His voice is crisp, sounding exactly like in recording (woo-hoo), though he did not hesitate to drop a line he’d started to try it again. In the meantime, he shared his admiration of Zach Condon’s projection, calling himself a “pussy behind the microphone.” On stage, Owen is easily humble, charming and funny. In addition to old favorites like “Adventure.exe” and “It Took You Two Years to Win My Heart,” he played some new tunes, one of them being “Flare Gun.”
The video is not necessarily worth raving about, but: it’s Beirut, and “Elephant Gun” is a gorgeous song, so I’ll be watching it every now and then (disclaimer: I’m not sure if songs, especially the great ones, should have a music video at all, even though they make such a great channel for first-rate video work, which I’m a fan of). Though not an exceptional video, however, the set looks pretty, and there’s a sense of sadness in it (isn’t there?). I’m thinking of Zach Condon reading Borges. Somehow there seems to be a connection. The choice of colors I like too. And the elephant tusk “mask” I would buy one for myself, because it looks kind of neat, but I’m suspcious about whether its inclusion in the video is the best choice. But, to give you real information, Alma Har’el, who directed this one, is also working on one for “Postcards.” In spite of my confusion over how I feel about music videos for bands I really really love, I say to that upcoming video: Wheee! and Hurray!
Zach Condon of Beirut has told Billboard that the new album’s is not a heaviliy Balkan aesthetic; the upcoming material is instead more “varied in approach” where every instrument isn’t necessarily used on every song. For string arrangements Beirut has been working with Owen Pallet of Final Fantasy, who they’re playing with at the May 6-8 Bowery Ballroom dates, and Griffin Rodriguez is on board as the producer. Spain may get a preview of some of this material at its Primavera Festival.
