It’s a rare thing when the quality of the music you hear live ends up being better than the recording. In my experience, live performances often include errors, and the sound is never as polished as an album that benefited from lots of care and production time.
It was for this reason that Bat for Lashes‘ performance was such a shock. The concert was not only riveting to watch, but sounded nearly perfect.
The band had a lot of good things going for them from the get-go. The Wonder Ballroom is an incredibly intimate, warm setting for a venue of that size. The acoustics are spot on, and there is little divide between the performers and the audience, enriching the interactive experience of the show.
Openers Other Lives, a five-piece indie rock outfit from Oklahoma, started out the evening with a surprisingly moving set. Singer Jesse Tabish has a warm, inviting voice that is smooth and emotive in a way that tugs at your heart. The rest of the band was equally talented in their musicianship, providing an eerie folk-rock soundscape and wonderful harmonies that complemented Tabish’s singing perfectly.
Following Other Lives, Natasha Khan, the woman behind Bat for Lashes, took the stage in a whirl of colorfully light and crafty outfits. Khan is a compelling performer, swaying on stage and twirling her arms in the sky as she sings. What really made the performance incredible though was her voice. She was perfectly on pitch the entire set, never for a moment missing a beat. It was a little frightening how good she can sing live while dancing around stage, a feat not easily accomplished by even the most seasoned of performers.
Khan’s backing band likewise showed impressive talent, featuring the lesser known English guitarist and singer-songwriter Charlotte Hatherley, a stellar musician in her own right with a sound that blended perfectly into Khan’s work.
Khan’s set drew heavily from her previous album, Fur and Gold, as well as her new album, Two Suns, including an encore performance of her hit single “Daniel.” Khan also finished out the night with a rendition of “Prescilla” that included some very pretty auto-harp and left the audience enraptured and begging for more.
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Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
By the way, I really liked the mp3 posted. Thanks.
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.””
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
