Awreye

November 06, 2005

The Fiery Furnaces at N6

24 hours ago I was disembarking from the craptastic G train and heading towards Northsix for The Fiery Furnaces gig. (The G is my least favorite subway line. Why? Cut service, short cars, bold-as-hell rats scurrying on the platforms.)

Kapow! kicked off the fun around 10:30pm. Prior to last Saturday, I never heard of this band. Karen mentioned that it was fronted by an ex-member of The Fiery Furnaces, which made me expect something other than what entered my ears: happy harmonies, easily digested, guitar-driven pop that made me want to bop around like a dancer from Laugh-In or American Bandstand circa 1964.

The guy on the right looks familiar.

Crowd seemed to enjoy them. But few in the too-cool-for-school audience danced. People, don't be afraid to move your body! Don't recall the titles to any songs, except maybe "Can't Stop the Bus" (Not sure if that was an actual title or just something random, which we screamed at the band. The Red Stripe and G&T made us do that. Really.) Anyway, made a mental note to check out their next gig.

Then out came The Fiery Furnaces. Band started with a medley of songs from older albums, before launching into Rehearsing my Choir. I've been undecided about the album (is it horrible? too experimental? genius?). But hearing them play the album live made me jump off the fence.

I (sorta) like.

Eleanor sang most of the "grandma parts," which removed a lot of what made me uneasy about the album -- Olga Sarantos' harsh spoken word delivery. Some songs seemed rushed, but the concert overall was very enjoyable. Band mentioned that the concert was being recorded; perhaps we can expect a live CD sometime in 2006?

My photos: