aeblog

rachel's what?

I did something really crazy last night. I went to see a band instead of watching the Oscars. And on top of that, I almost stayed up until midnight.
It wouldn't have taken much to be worth it as I am not a fan of awards shows of any sort, but even if I was, the performance Rachel's put on last night would have been worthwhile. I was quite skeptical of seeing Rachel's at the Middle East downstairs because the sound is usually so crappy down there. Rachel's plays music that is practically classical; it is quite dynamic and gets soft and beautiful often so the pounding bass of the inevitable band playing upstairs would surely be a problem. This did turn out to be somewhat of a problem, but the band was able to transcend all the other issues I imagined they might have and put on a truly wonderful performance.
What struck me most about the show last night was how incredibly well Rachel's was able to combine a whole bunch of disparate instruments and styles into something that didn't sound at all forced or unnatural. I had been impressed with their studio recordings for this very reason as well, and was curious to see how they were going to pull it off live. And to be honest, I figured they wouldn't really be able to do it. I figured they would give it a valiant effort though ultimately succumb to certain realities of transferring music from the studio to the stage. They did rearrange their music somewhat, but not due to restrictions and inabilities, but rather in order to optimize it for the live performance.
They used a bunch of standard 'rock' instruments as well as classical instruments and then threw in some electronics just for fun. I got the impression that they have been doing this for a while, are very cognizant of exactly what they sound like, and have discerning ears. Everything was thought about. Even the drummer (and we all know how stupid drummers are!?) used a concert bass drum for his kick, tuned his snare loosely for an open feel and played predominantly with timpani mallets. Whenever he started playing it felt like a completely natural appendage was added to the music, not some pathetic attempt to get classical musicians to rock out. In this way, I was reminded of seeing Sigur Ros a few years back. They figured out this delicate balance as well, though in an entirely different fashion. I think the fact that they brought their own sound guy helped a lot as well. Don't know how he did it.

This performance gave me hope for the popular music scene. The opening act was a string quartet called Invert who played fairly upbeat original music, and then there was the oddity that was Rachel's. At the Middle East, of all places. Yes, there was thundering bass from the upstairs band bleeding into our ears, but there was something so refreshing about seeing such original acts in a place so often dominated by the common and banal.