Fanfarlo + Weinland - Chop Suey (Seattle, WA; Sept 14, 2009)

Fanfarlo. More like “Fanfuckinfarlo!” I thought after having watched the UK band perform at Chop Suey. They melted my heart with its crowd-rallying tunes and pleasantly unassuming personalities. I left wanting so much more, but not in a bad way. This yearning was something that couldn’t be fixed even if Fanfarlo did more than their two encores.

The opener was Weinland and, unfortunately, I walked in to only their last two songs. So, I obviously can’t claim to be an expert of their live show, but the final strains of music that I heard seemed well done. The quintet produced a hearty folk sound that nicely complimented lead singer John Adam Weinland Shearer’s emotional and hearty vocals. But sadly for Weinland, they were quickly forgotten once Fanfarlo got started.

For me, Fanfarlo’s music had been something I listened to on lazy Sunday afternoons, mentally filed under “something mellow with a little punch to it.” But I had no idea how much of a punch their live show packed. Bathed in red light, three members of the Fanfarlo sextet opened their set with a simplified version of “Drowning Men,” a soft, beautiful melody that reminded me how much they sound like The Arcade Fire. I initially thought that the entire set might be rather melancholy, but the stage lights soon came on to display a carnivalesque appearance. Festoon lighting illuminated the stage, where circus flags were draped liberally, a concert photographer’s dream. It all of a sudden felt very alive and the crowd started to get worked up.

Seattle was Fanfarlo’s first stop on a mini US tour, so even though extremely jet-lagged and haggard, the band poured every last drip of endurance into their performance. They played almost all the songs from their 2008 debut album, Reservoir. Chop Suey is not known for having a large stage, and the band no doubt felt the squeeze as they had to fit all six bodies and a plethora of instruments (several members play three or more) on a stage built for four. At one point, Cathy Lucas got her violin bow stuck on vocalist Simon Balthasazar’s shoulder causing a friendly, yet cautionary, butt bump by Lucas. Even with the lack of space, they managed to use every bit of stage possible. Various instruments were stacked on top of each other, Balthasazar did little jigs with surprising agility around the stage, and all members stood in line and stomped their feet to “The Walls Are Coming Down.” They owned that little stage.

The highlight of the evening came during one of the encores. After the crowd chanted “One more song! one more song!”, the band re-emerged to perform “Ghosts.” But before a single note was played, the band announced that they wanted to experiment with the song. They handed out six plastic tubes to various crowd members (extracting promises of the tubes being returned by the end of the song) to wave above their heads. The result was a haunting whistling sound that provided the intro for “Ghosts.” At first, I thought this was an awesome idea; however, I started to fear that a tube might find its way into the hands of a drunken reveler or someone a little too short. But no one was hurt, and every single one of the plastic tubes made it back onstage at the end. Truly, a new experience for us all. You can check it out for yourself and see what you think.

I’ll be honest, concerts seemed to have become a little more like work for me lately, but attending Fanfarlo’s show reminded me what it was like to have fun. The crowd couldn’t have been more likable, the band members couldn’t have been more charming, and the overall energy couldn’t have been more potent. And the best part about it was that I felt like Fanfarlo was having as much fun as I was. Probably not, but I’d like to think so.

Set List:
01—Drowning Men
02—I’m A Pilot
03—Finish Line
04—Harold T. Wilkins
05—Atlas
06—The Walls are Coming Down
07—Waiting in the Wings
08—Comets
09—Luna

Encore:
10—Outsiders
11—Ghost
12—Fire Escape

DOWNLOAD: Fanfarlo - sand and ice (MP3) or Follow us for more Fanfarlo MP3s (Twitter)

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