TVOTR & Grizzly Bear @ The Paradise, Boston, MA, 10/14/2006

Getting lost in Boston sucks. A five year old would have had an easier time getting out of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch than I did trying to make my way to The Paradise (with the shitty directions the venue's site gave me)...and considering I planned ahead to arrive early and catch the sound checks, I was pretty frustrated when we finally did make it to the 'dise. I'm in no position to rant on the subject of lines, the ordering and filing of the general public collectively trusting the system that their expecations will be filled and then some, but that being said... I hate lines too, about as much as I hate getting lost in Boston.

So in the cold we did wait, which gave me time to ponder those "expectations" I mentioned above. I'd had an opportunity to see both Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio (on two separate occasions) sometime last year but for whatever reason chose not to go. For TV, at that time they'd just released Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, one of the best albums of 2004, and a record that showed glowing amounts of talent and potential. This year TV capitalized on that potential, giving us Return To Cookie Mountain, an album that entirely surpasses their debut in nearly every way, which is ridiculous considering how strong DYBB is. On top of my self-constructed hype, there was the other hype...the kind of hype that breaks hearts, causes glands to salivate continuously, builds a glowing green in the eyes of major label scouts and true music afficionados alike. I don't know how many times I've heard TV referred to as "the next Radiohead" or RTCM as "the OK Computer of our generation" (and many other sensational claims). In any event, I had a considerable amount of expectation for TVOTR, but somehow I knew I wouldn't be let down.

My expectations for Grizzly Bear were a little more modest (as opposed to the wild expectations for TV). To be honest, before I knew of what kind of shows they'd been playing on this tour, I was actually a little curious to how they would pull off a good opening set for a band that rocks as hard and as thorough as their tour mates. Don't get me wrong, Yellow House is one of 2006's finest, but it's much more soft and meditative than the brash intensity and wall-of-sound elements of an album like RTCM.

Nevertheless, and this isn't an overstatement, Grizzly Bear fucking blew me away. They started their set with "Showcase," a track from 2004's Horn of Plenty. The version GB played for us is almost nothing like the whispy folk of the album version... instead, it was a gloriously building epic with unbelievable chord progression seguing into a wild exchange of musical elements from all four band members: Ed and Chris (Taylor) providing vocal melodies overlayed on Dan's fantastic [read: fan-fucking-tastic] guitar playing and Chris Bear's equally stunning drumming. I've never seen Radiohead live, but for some reason I couldn't shake the notion that these moments in GB's set (and there were plenty) somehow made me think of Thom and Johnny, and the sort of complementary musicality of band members feeding off eachother's intensity. A stretch, maybe, but fan-fucking-tastic nonetheless.

A reservation: As many of those moments of intensity as there were, there were also some points in Grizzly Bear's set, inevitable I suppose due to the nature of their music, that provided a lull to an otherwise sensory numbing show...the troughs to counterbalance the crests. This wasn't a bad thing at all, but it was harder to appreciate over the subtle roar of dispersed drunkenness throughout the crowd...such is the dilemma of concert venues with liquor-peddling bars. However, if you could silence the crowd and get lost in the many gorgeous melodies and vocal harmonies of Grizzly Bear's set, you'd be none-the-wiser. By the time their set was finished, the club had reached maximum capacity--and eagerness--for Kyp and Tunde and the rest of TV to segue off of the excitement off their tour mates' performance. And they did just that.

I have never seen anyone sing as passionately and intensely as Tunde. He's a natural performer and crowd pleaser, like Mick and Win and Pelle and Wayne and Kele, moving to every beat, bending over backwards to reach the high notes, emitting a fine mix of lyrics and spit and general advice-worth-taking...he was a spectacle on his own. They played every song I wanted them to, every song to satisfy new fans and old, and each one (with the exception of Province) freaking nailed the sound of the albums, and then some. The crowd, with an average blood alcohol level of around 0.12 - 0.19, was as involved as you'd expect, screaming along with every word, bouncing and twisting and feeding off of the music like puck sluts at a D1 highschool hockey pep rally. I haven't experienced anything like that since seeing the Arcade Fire back in January 2005 (fuck that's a long time ago...).

TV's set ended with not one encore...but more like 1.5. The band came back on for a few songs, but as they were about to leave (and as slight disappointment began to settle in my bones), David (their guitarist and primary instrumentalist) whispered something to Tunde and Kyp, which then sent them off to find Grizzly Bear to join them onstage for a makeshift rendition of "Ambulance" complete with a sea of vocals from the crowd (a few of which got their hands on some bells and tambourines)... providing the perfect close for an enitrely sense-shifting, spectacular performance. If you ever get a chance to see TVOTR and Grizzly Bear, together or separate, don't pass up the opportunity. Barring some late-year concert miracle, this will most likely be the show of the year for me.

As I left the venue, somehow mysteriously over an hour after the show ended, and I looked at handfulls of fellow stragglers chatting it up with roadies and merch people, others being interviewed for a TVOTR live documentary, I couldn't help but feel that somehow, in some way, I got more out of the show than anyone else. Sounds crazy, I know, but while the experience was shared amongst the 400 or so people packed into the club, I can't help but view it with some kind of personal meaning and introspection... Yes. It was that good. Make sure to click "Read More" for pics from the show!