The brightest and the hippest were all out in pure force last night at the Berklee Performance Art Center on Mass Ave. in Boston.  I was upset I missed the opener, Here We Go Magic, but we can blame Boston’s lack of free parking spots for that one.  Who wants to pay $17 to park for three hours?  Not me.

I was on top of this show early so I snagged my favorite seats in the house which are located right along the first section of the balcony.  Great view, great sound.  Just like their new album, Veckatimest, they opened up with “Southern Point”.  This version seemed longer then the album version.  I know that the ‘Bear likes to explore during their shows so perhaps this is their exploratory nature coming out on stage.  The sound was kicking as usual but the last show I saw here was Andrew Bird and the sound was no where near as loud.

A good reason why the sound was so loud was sitting behind the skins.  Christopher Bear not only includes half of the bands name but he also makes up half of the bands sound all on his own.  The fills and rolls this guy pulls off are so intense and forceful that he invokes chills up your spine on a regular basis.  I almost feel sorry for his kit at times.

All the way on the opposite side of the stage stands another strong foundation to the band, Chris Taylor.  Chris tends to be the quite, “no body really notices”, type of guy while on stage.  However, if you were to mute everyone on stage except Chris you’d notice he makes the most noise.  And not just with his bass.  He’s got all sorts of toys, especially in the wind instrument family including a clarinet and what looked like a Saprono sax.  He appears to attach a special microphone to the end of each wind instrument which is then attached to some crazy effects pedal that alters the sound giving it that haunting vibe Grizzly is so famously known for.

For those unfamiliar with their sound, the best way to describe Grizzly Bear is a haunting version of the Beach Boys.  I don’t mean haunting to mean scary but rather beauty.  If you like melody, you’ll love Grizzly Bear because each song is jam full of gorgeous, haunting melodies that you’ll go crazy for.

A review of Grizzly Bear would not be complete without discussing the performance of the two lead vocalists, Daniel Rosen and Ed Droste.  For Ed, this was a home coming show.  Tons of family in the crowd.  If there’s a leader of the band I guess you could say Ed is it.  But only cause he’s the most talkative, which isn’t saying much.  But Ed and Daniel split the lead vocal duties.  Ed’s voice is more traditional and sounds professionally trained (not sure if he is or not), where as Daniel has a more  unique quality that includes the familiar haunting undertones found throughout the instrumental components of each song.  But Ed and Daniel are not the only ones whose vocals make an appearance.  All four members contribute with Chris Taylor as the main back up vocalist who is often the one you hear contributing to the “ooooo’s” and “ahhhh’s”.  There aren’t too many other bands out there that rival the four part harmony of Grizzly Bear.

They rambled through a majority of their new material and included a few off their first album, Yellow House, such as the stand out “Knife” and “Colorado”.  One thing is for sure, these guys really put a lot of work into each song.  Everything so perfectly timed and the details, details, details!  They even make use of frequency from an old radio to add sound to various songs.

To say the least, this was a show of pure talent.  My only wish, as is with many indie shows, is that they played longer.  I would have enjoyed a second encore.  I would have enjoyed getting up out of my seat and dancing but I probably would have been booed.  But I guess that’s why I also go to Phish shows.

Listen and Download tracks from Here We Go Magic’s Daytrotter sessions

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