Beirut, The Reciever - August 17 at Little Brothers

The show started with two openers. Unfortunately, I only have photographs of one of the openers. They were called "The Receiver." Their music was akin to The Mars Volta, Pink Floyd, maybe a little Radiohead...

Regardless, they took a little getting used to, as they were really only two members. Much like Echo and the Bunnymen (Echo was their drum machine), this band uses a laptop on stage to sort of thicken their sound and add in the missing elements.

They depended really heavily on the rythmic sensibility of the drummer, as the baselines were pretty boring. The band had an incredible ability to set up some really interesting grooves and see where they led. Their opening song was in 7/4 time, but they made it sound less like unaproachable prog rock and more like indie rock.

Next was Beirut, the band that most everyone came to see. The premise is that the band leader and multi-instrumentalist, Zach Condon, has tried to create a sort of gypsy-klezmer-indie rock band.

Turns out that, despite how ridiculous that sounds, the project works very well. The vibe is more similar to gypsy campground than hipster hangout. The only missing piece seemed to be a campfire in the middle of the venue.

In addition to bringing their obvious talent to the stage, each member also seemed to add to the dynamic of the band's stage presence. They were easygoing, and the whole performance seemed to flow naturally from their enthusiasm for the music. The genuinely looked like they loved being there and loved playing this music.

In short, seeing Beirut live is probably the closest any of us will get to actually sitting in on a roving musical troupe's campfire jam sessions. It truly is a lot of fun to be a part of this type of show, as much fun for the audience as it is for the performers.