Grizzly Bear comes home
Berklee Performance Center, Boston, June 3, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
Grizzly Bear was on home turf, just a week after their latest CD, "Veckatimest," was out and now is a top 10 seller in the entire country. The indie rock quartet was jazzed about coming back to their roots and said so, although like most of their set, they didn't over hype the hometown point.
This is a band that has done it on its own - going the small label route, not getting commercial radio play, but building fans, with a huge chunk of them are definitely in the college crowd. Sonically, Grizzly Bear occupies a softer space with a lot of vocal harmonies and quieter sounds, although they can pick up the sound and speed when desired.
Local boy Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen took turns at vocals. Rossen, who offers a bigger presence physically, was the better singer with more intensity and emotion coming out of his mouth. The songs certainly are not cut short as they only played 14 songs including the encore. About half of "Veckatimest" was played. Grizzly Bear also tended to stretch out a good amount, and a few times the audience started clapping thinking a song was over, only to have the band extend it. Rossen and band were fond of wordless vocals (unless you consider "oh" a word for a lyric), which, although perhaps going to the well with the idea a bit too often, did sound good, such as on Lil Brother.
Grizzly Bear certainly could not be accused of wearing out their welcome in a 75-minute set, which felt short for headlining a theater. Despite that, Grizzly Bear is good at what they want to do - honing in on the songs and playing them out until they feel they're done. There's not a lot of flash at all or a high degree of excitement for that matter either, perhaps a sharp contrast with their moniker. But they ended on a very strong note with the one-song encore, He Hit Me, courtesy of heartfelt vocals and the "oh ohs" helping out.
Here We Go Magic, led by Luke Temple, preceded the headliners with an excellent set (truth in advertising. That is based on three songs heard). The group has been together for only about four months, but the quintet has a lot to offer. The drummer set a good beat throughout, sometimes a tribal type. There was an invigorating element to the work with a lot of atmospherics underneath, helping build the sound.
The material was well thought out and put together. At times, bands like the Talking Heads and Coldplay were reference points. This was a real good night for a band that is doubtlessly still figuring themselves out.
