SHOW REVIEW: THE DODOS LIVE @ The Bowery Ballroom in NYC 6/9/11

Last night I was fortunate enough to see The Dodos at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. I’m still in awe of what I witnessed last night, so to start off easiest let’s talk about the opening band Gauntlet Hair. Straight out of Colorado, Gauntlet Hair performed about a half hour worth of material that was both funky and experimental with an extreme air of atmosphere. They appealed to me possibly because they were so uncontrollably hipster, and some of their sound was very similar to my beloved Animal Collective. Each member was his own version of hipster, but the drummer was particularly great—he was a man’s man given by his little snarky, but actually funny, comments and his Abraham Lincoln tattoo. My only complaint about them really is that they were way too loud for the venue and the echoey effect for the singer got a little trying after three straight songs using it. After my ear drums nearly exploded, and a half hour of preparation, Meric Long and Logan Kroeber took the stage and ripped right into “Good”. This was the absolute perfect opener for them—the song provides franticness and energetic drum beats that force you into a Dodos-listening mood. As if that song weren’t intense enough, they then plunged right into “Black Night” which pushed the crowd into a manic shouting of “you wanna walk right through IT!” Songs like “When Will You Go” and “Longform” didn’t get quite the same reaction as the aforementioned, but they were still performed with a delicate intricacy that created the exact same glorious power. “Don’t Try and Hide It” was a clear crowd favorite, and that provided for some amusing harmonies where Meric just sang low, but the crowd sang Neko Case’s part during “Don’t try and hide it fight it”. It was at that time of night when someone somewhere shouted “Horny Hippies!” to which Meric apologized for he didn’t have the ability to play it anymore. So, instead they played “Winter”, and I am in no need of an apology. It was absolutely lovely. The same emotion of heartbreak felt through his deep melancholy vocals on the album was transmitted with even more feeling live, if you think that is possible. That lead beautifully into “The Season” which was the most raw-emotion filled performance I have ever seen. It built up beautiful and haunting, leading up to the ever desperate sounding “I CROSS THE SAND WITHOUT YOUR HAND…” It was so poignant and powerful that it brought tears to my eyes. The anger and the sadness were conveyed so uproariously well. They probably knew no other song could ever live up to that, so it was a fairly well-thought out choice to place the overtly necessary “Fools” next. By the end of that set, I have not heard a crowd scream and freak out so loudly as this one did when The Dodos left the stage. It was a completely mutual feeling, shared by every single member of the crowd, that that could not have been it. The encore began with “Going Under” which was a nice, sweet calm down that brought every one down enough to be able to handle the final song, which was a fairly unique choice of “Jodi”. “Jodi” was never a song that really got me going, but after last night, it will be on repeat. It was very entertaining when he began the opening riff, and the whole crowd began clapping along, creating a hoedown kind of mood, inspiring Logan and Meric to each do a little jig. Perfect.

Logan is boss at drumming. The fact that he is able to play for that long and do that much is astonishing. He didn’t seem fazed at any point and rather got better as the night went on. Meric is just as much a virtuoso as Logan was. I could see his lengthy right-hand nails, and it is true that he plays every song without a pick. Whether he was playing a smashing reverb induced wall of noise, or 10 picks-per-second folk guitar, he can create more sound (and interesting ones at that) than most of his peers. They are both absurdly passionate and prodigious musicians that I truly do feel honored having seen. If you can appreciate this fact at all, you will be able to accept the fact that the overwhelming majority of their set was No Color songs. If the only album you like is Visiter, do not see them, though their live show will undoubtedly blow you so far away. It was so worth the current ringing in my ears.

Quote from the night:

Meric Long: "For some reason someone requests that song at every show. I forgot how to play it."
Logan Kroeber: "We still know how to play this!" (In regards to "Horny Hippies", before "Winter")

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Setlist

Good
Black Night
When Will You Go
Longform
Don’t Try and Hide It
All Night
Companions
Winter
The Season
Fools

Encore
Going Under
Jodi
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