A young man in a suit and glasses came out alone with a guitar, and a solitary spotlight isolated him on the stage. Without a word, he started to play a tight quick-step folk tune. He chanted, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Already Know,” and the crowd started to sing along as if prompted to communicate this information back to him in complaint. The song did feel like something we already knew, but enjoyable nonetheless. He enlightened us with a little information between this and the “Country Song”: “I’m James Dean Kindle from Pendleton, Oregon.” Turns out, “mystery-man” James Dean Kindle from Pendelton, Oregon is a good friend of Paul Collins from Beirut, has played music with Point Juncture Washington and Blitzen Trapper, and has shared bills with a long list of local musicians including Laura Gibson and the Helio Sequence. But the surprises didn’t end there. Mr. Kindle brought up his band, The Eastern Oregon Playboys, and they proceeded to pull a garden variety of instruments out of their pockets continuously until the end of their show. Kindle strapped on an accordion (to the crowd’s audible delight) for “Pit of Love” while the rest of the band grabbed some other pretty standard instruments – a drumset, a bass guitar, a dinner triangle, and a tambourine. “Depends on the Weather” was a rockabilly jam that transported us all back the ‘50s-dance-parties we never went to, all very similar to the swanky strut of The Stray Cats, plus glockenspiel.
The band drifted from sock-hop back to the saloon for a Johnny-Cash-soaked country-rock number that involved an orange kazoo and Kindle’s subsequent ejection of it with the cavalier of a cowboy spritzing tobacco crabwise without so much as a blink. Guitarist/glockenspiel-ist/drummer/dinner triangle-ist/saxophonist brought two shakers (one cylindrical and hollow with a spring dangling from the bottom for a cool wobble/whale-cry effect) for one of the final songs; by his side, another stupidly talented multi-instrumentalist played violin. Their last song, a kind of Jewish Polka, went a little over the top in terms of tempo, but I still came away with a hunch that Eastern Oregon is rich with culture and can easily hold its own next to Portland.
Santa Fe, New Mexico can likewise hold its own musically next to all of Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Beirut played to a sold-out room (typical at this point in their career) of handsomely dressed fans, many clad in suspenders, tucked-in button up shirts, caddy hats, fedoras, and loafers. The vintage-fashion enthusiasm, however, stopped at the stage where Zach Condon and his band of many sported casual slacks, three-quarter-buttoned shirts, suit jackets, and wind-combed hair. Each song began enticingly with a battery of horns (flugelhorn, trumpet, euphonium) or some other isolated group of like-instruments, and each ended with a long train of sound colliding suddenly with silence. Every song was phenomenally emotive, transporting, and meticulously arranged, channeling the ancient romance of old-world Balkan landscapes and the fiery spirit of Flamenco. Condon’s anguished baritone melodies alongside the melismatic cries of the horn section had girls and boys alike swooning.
The sudden appearance of an accordion onstage unfailingly instigates mass applause, but when it surfaced during Beirut’s set, people collapsed in ecstasy. The ukulele, when held by Zach Condon during “A Sunday Smile,” produced a similar effect, but this time, instead of collapsing on the ground, friends and lovers collapsed into each other’s faces, smothering one another with impassioned kisses, smiles, and embraces. This happened repeatedly, but with special fervor during the waltz-y “St. Appollonia.” Beirut granted us a total of four encore songs, and we would have all gladly stuck around for five or fifty.
DOWNLOAD: Beirut - A Sunday Smile (MP3) or Follow us for more Beirut MP3s (Twitter)
Two songs go in, one comes out. Pick a side.
Also, I have yet to pay this venue a visit, is it good spot? good people, good vibe, good atmosphere?
... man, i hope i win some tickets…
by Jaz Bonnin-Aldatz on Thu May 17, 2012 at 12.27 am from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
Looking forward to the show. Would love to win some tix for my pals.
by MC Breath on Wed May 16, 2012 at 07.40 pm from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
I’m dying to see him no better place than FETE!!
by Telly on Tue May 15, 2012 at 02.57 pm from the entry: we'll see you (and Talib Kweli) at Fête!
Sound does matter. Viva Le Fete!
by Auquanetta on Tue May 15, 2012 at 01.13 pm from the entry: we'll see you (and Talib Kweli) at Fête!
YES! i MUST go to this show! i was just strollin down the street the other day and saw the poster! SO stoked they’ll be in town.
by Jaz on Mon May 14, 2012 at 05.30 pm from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
Fete Forever!!
by Tabitha on Mon May 14, 2012 at 05.08 pm from the entry: we'll see you (and Talib Kweli) at Fête!
Congratulations and thank you to Fete for bringing talent to Providence! We needed this venue and vibe. Bless.
oh and I’d love to win tickets; its my boyfriends bday:D
by Ellen on Mon May 14, 2012 at 07.23 am from the entry: we'll see you (and Talib Kweli) at Fête!
