| « Blockin' Chi-Town | Wilco on sale next week » |
Review Tue Oct 10 2006
Last Night: At the Metro
A concert-goer who saw Grizzly Bear at the Empty Bottle last fall could be forgiven for being confused by the apparent switcheroo that took place at the Metro last night: despite having the same line-up, 2005's incarnation of the band was an entirely different animal. Transforming what was essentially frontman Ed Droste's solo project into a four-man affair has had its effect. Unlike its somewhat shambling past, the band played its experimental soundscapes tightly, not to mention loudly. Drummer Chris Bear, of local origin, shouted out to "family and friends," and his homecoming was a triumphant one. Indeed, each member of the band impressed at various points -- multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor even brought out a clarinet. But perhaps the biggest change was in Dan Rossen's role. As Droste made clear in an interview with Pitchfork, these days, Rossen writes and sings a good chunk of the songs, including some of the more affecting ones. Grizzly Bear still have some maturing to do in terms of presentation on stage -- while the music spoke for itself, they could have been more engaging -- but they've made significant strides in building a wall of sound on Droste's original brick. (The band opened for TV on the Radio, who played a typically passionate set. The pairing of these acts was actually rather inspired -- both venture into post-rock, but with different takes on the concept. While Grizzly Bear embraces folk influence, TVOTR hearkens back to soul. In other words, two great tastes that taste great together.)
