Brooklyn – In order to really appreciate tUnE-yArDs, you have to see them play live. Only after you witness with your own eyes the layered madness that leading lady Merrill Garbus sets into motion will you really value what her band does sonically. The clockwork of drumbeats and looping vocals is impressive when you listen to the recorded versions, but only in a live setting can you see and thus understand how much goes into creating each song.
The amount of physical effort and planning involved in crafting tunes like “Water Fountain” and “Gangsta” is somewhat lost on the recordings. Unless you know how Garbus builds each sound, the songs don’t seem terribly special. There are just a lot of noises and voices. Making all those sounds coexist in a three-minute space should be a feat in itself, but to an untrained ear the songs may just sound busy. So much can be done in post-production with patches and Macs that the musicianship behind the more layered sounds is often ignored. The sight of Garbus replicating tUnE-yArDs’ songs in real time brings all the necessary talent and skill to the front of our minds and the center of the stage.
With a series of mics, drums, synths, singers and back up dancers, tUnE-yArDs creates a composed racket that perfectly mimics all the layered sounds of Whokill and Nikki Nack. To do so, everything has to be timed just right. You don’t think about this when listening to either record; it’s watching the songs come together live when you do. Miraculously all the clapping, shouting, singing and drumming meshes together just right and somehow Garbus gets it perfect every time. It’s an astonishing achievement and yet during the band’s Music Hall of Williamsburg show the other night, Garbus stood amongst her mics and floor toms not even looking winded.
Behind her, half a dozen or so band members joined in the music making with equally casual looks on their faces. They thwacked away at wood congas, shook tambourines and clapped together drumsticks. Nate Brenner switched between his bass and a synth. Noah Bernstein ran on and off stage with his saxophone. Abigail Nessen and Jo Lampert, the group’s back up singers, undulated and waved their arms to the beat, punctuating the sound just so. The whole band jammed out with such looseness that it was easy to once again forget how difficult the songs were to play. There was so much going on, but every beat of it was on purpose.
The whole experience started casually. Garbus took the stage in a red and gold dress, mug in hand, humming to herself. She held the syllable, carried it over to center stage and repeated “Mmmmm mah mah mah mah” into the mic. Especially with the mug in hand, she seemed like she was warming up for a college a capella concert. She set down the mug, tapped her pedal board with her feet, picked up a set of drumsticks and suddenly launched into “Left Behind.” It was an ironic way to open the Williamsburg gig given that the song begins with the line “M-My this place has really changed its ways / luckily there’s only really rich folks living here.” The song, off the band’s newest album, Nikki Nack, brings in all the elements of a tUnE-yArDs song in just over four minutes. From Garbus’ looped vocals to the layered harmonies of her backup singers to the pounding bassline, percussion and synth, it was a good representation of what would be played that night. The avalanche of sounds ended fittingly with the line “Holiday! Holiday! Let’s go crazy.”
From that point forward everything did go crazy. Calculatedly so, but definitely crazy. The next song, “Sink-O,” was met by the audience yelling “peace / peace and love” along with tUnE-yArDs and dancing wildly. Drummer/all around percussionist Dani Markham beat away at her wood congas and the variety of other random surfaces that surrounded her section of stage. Her choice of instruments included an empty metal water bottle and a glockenspiel-looking block, all of which she incorporated in somewhere. The hollow clang of the water bottle was a nice touch later in the set during the band’s single “Water Fountain.”
The fervor continued for “Hey Life” and “Gangsta.” The two songs further showcased the band’s ability to bring all these seemingly random instruments, beats and rhythms together in a coherent performance. “Hey Life,” with all its different speeds and modes, was one of the most impressive to watch come together in real time. From the opening rim hits of Garbus’ floor tom to the slowly added synth to the shoulder shrugs of the backup singers, it was an impressive attack on the senses. Other highlights of the night included “Stop that Man” and “Buziness.” The latter brought the ukulele and the saxophone to the stage, which the audience really enjoyed, but more importantly it gave those paying close attention a lesson in how Garbus created all those loops.
With one hand drumming steadily away, she held a mic low to the drumhead and tapped her loop pedals with her feet. She switched between snare and tom, changing up the beat as she went and created this layer of percussion over the top of which “Buziness” began. The other vocalists, who included the majority of the rest of the band, added in “ohs” and “ahs.” The precision in the resulting instrumental was a treat to watch. Instead of using some pre-recorded synth patch, Garbus had recreated the sound live amongst all the racket of the rambunctious audience. It was truly amazing.
Other songs stripped back the ensemble of multi-instrumentalists to just a few members. For these tunes, like “Wait For A Minute” and “Look Around,” Garbus swapped her drumsticks out for a ukulele. She broke away from her set-up center stage and danced with the backup singers. Together, the three women acted out the spoken word poem/radio play/song “Interlude: Why Must We Dine On The Tots” as if the concert was suddenly a variety show. It continued with the whole experimental, casual vibe of the show. It was evident that all the musicians were incredibly talented, but that wasn’t stopping them from having fun.
The serious moments came in the form of banter, where Garbus spoke about the band’s charity and their recent tour dates overseas. She also took a moment to point out her parents, who waved back from the balcony. “My mom and dad who-” Garbus paused then added, “It’s their fault.”
After a lengthy set, the band finally left the stage. In true tUnE-yArDs fashion, the inevitable encore wasn’t met with the usual “one more song!” Instead the audience burst into a siren-like sound, similar to the ambulance sound in “Gangsta.” It was a bizarre way to call tUnE-yArDs back to the stage, but at the same time it was very fitting. The band returned for “Water Fountain” and “My Country.” Garbus took a moment to thank her band members, their manager and the audience. Only then did she admit that, “This music is kind of hard to play…” It was an understatement, especially after the hour or so of music. The whole concert had been a tour de force and a treat to watch. The modesty of the band made it all the better.
(Ed., Best New Bands reviewed tUnE-yArDs in San Francisco earlier this year.) Their North American tour has just ended but they resume touring internationally in mid-February.
Zoe Marquedant
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