Swedish songstress Anna Ternheim opened the night, borrowing a few members of Loney Dear to provide the instrumentation behind her sweet pipes. The collaboration worked beautifully, as Ternheim’s tunes align more closely with Loney Dear’s gentle style than the Asobi Seksu set that would follow. Undoubtedly, Ternheim won over some new fans; she made the most of her opening opportunity, and was called back to the stage by the crowd for an encore, despite only being the appetizer.
As Asobi Seksu took the stage, it quickly became clear that we were in for a mellow night at Great Scott. Though the duo of singer/keyboardist Yuki Chikudate and guitarist James Hanna has earned a reputation as a neo-shoegaze act by assaulting audiences with layers of distorted guitars and keyboards, their 2009 release, Hush, made the bold move of stripping away that wall of sound. Instead, the album shines the light on precise songwriting and Chikudate’s ethereal vocals.
However, their live performance drew almost exclusively from those shoegaze roots. While I’m sure this pleased fans who could be seen modestly nodding their heads and coolly clapping after each song, those of us excited to hear the intimacy of Hush were disappointed. For most of the set, overly loud drums drowned out the lead singer’s magical voice, and the guitar and keyboards—both dripping with delay and distortion effects—succeeded only in making sure neither could truly be heard.
Despite these laments, Asobi Seksu certainly has its strengths. The musicians skillfully perform, and I can not deny that at the height of their musical assault—replete with strobe lights glaring—they can overpower an audience. They simply need to learn from their best songs of the night, such as “Layers,” or my personal favorite, “Transparence” (both off of Hush), appreciating that there is more songwriting power in contrasting soft against loud than contrasting loud against louder.
That lesson could also be learned by watching the closing act, Loney Dear. The vast differences between acts was obvious before Loney Dear had even started their set, when frontman Emil Svanängen stepped off of the stage to serenade the audience while his bandmates finished setting up. Armed only with his acoustic guitar and his powerful voice, Svanängen had us singing along to made-up melodies in no time.
What followed was a curious mixture of excellent harmonic songwriting, a lead singer who somehow seemed comfortable with and embarrassed by the stage simultaneously, and a band full of Swedish bantering between songs. While wistfully gazing out at a crowd half the size of Asobi Seksu’s, Svanängen indulged the audience with both wonderful acoustic solo ballads and full-band songs on which Malin Ståhlberg’s back-up vocals really shined. “I Love You (In With The Arms)” was a particular highlight, combining both of those aspects with a long slow build that was truly moving.
That said, the unabashed highlight of the entire night came during Loney Dear’s encore. After playing “I am John” with the full band, Svanängen stayed on-stage alone, unplugged his acoustic guitar and broke into “Dear, John.” The gentle title track of his most recent release was a standout song even before Ståhlberg began softly singing her lilting harmonies from off-stage; thankfully, the bar at Great Scott had dropped silent for the final number of the night. Ushering the audience out in a dreamy state, Svanängen drew the audience into the lullaby, asking us to sing along with the melody he had taught us before the set. As enjoyable as most of the concert was, “Dear, John” itself was worth the price of admission.
DOWNLOAD: Loney Dear - Airport Surroundings (MP3) or Follow us for more Loney Dear MP3s (Twitter)
Justin Townes Earle + Joe Pug - 2/14
Doug Fir Lounge
The Magnetic Fields - 2/21
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/22
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/23
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/24
Aladdin Theatre
El Perro Del Mar - 2/28
Doug Fir Lounge
Basia Bulat - 3/8
Mississippi Studios
Avey Tare was in attendance, along with Angel from Dirty Projectors.
by David on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 08.35 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
Good catch, oh masked marvel.
by Ari Sommer on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.42 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
St. Sincent...ha.
by anonymous on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.04 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
Aan was amazing.
by jarrod on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.02 pm from the entry: Blue Horns + Morning Teleportation + Aan - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR Jan. 30, 2010)
I’d like to clarify that for this show they cut off the back half of Neumo’s floor with a curtain and had the upstairs bar closed. It made Neumo’s obviously seem much smaller than it is. Unfortunately, now having seen Neumo’s fully open at another show I can say that this show was very empty. Still White Denim and Brazos rocked.
by Chris on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.57 am from the entry: White Denim + Brazos - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Jan. 24, 2010)
I agree, it’s very good. Way to deflate their balloon.
by colin on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.03 am from the entry: Third Annual Portland Music Awards - Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR; Jan. 28, 2010)
Love the photos. And that “Walkabout” song is the drugs.
by Beth Doreian on Sun Feb 7, 2010 at 01.14 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
