Camera Obscura @ Grand Hall, Manhattan, New York
This is my first review for thatsound and I was lucky that this first report was about a very special concert. Camera Obscura is a Scottish indie-pop band that presents with a paradoxical sound, in the sense that is both happy and melancholic, danceable and still, sweet and sour. Overall, they have a mellow style that takes you across other musical decades but with a modern touch. Camera Obscura is also the name of a device that projects an image from the surroundings into a screen. Various painters, such as Vermeer, used this device in the creation of their works. As the device, that gathers light and condenses into an image, Camera Obscura, the band, transforms feelings into music. The delicate voice of Tracyanne Campbell is definitely one of the key ingredients of this alchemical process.
They were formed in 1996 and since then have steadily gathered a growing fan base. The turning point of the band’s history happened with the release of their third album “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” due to a more polished production. With last year’s “My Maudlin Career” finally hitting mainstream, a bigger audience was given the opportunity to appreciate one of best pop bands of the last ten years.
The venue was perfect for the band. The Grand Hall is on the 7th floor of the Manhattan Center, in the same building as the Hammerstein Ballroom and right across the street from the huge Madison Square Garden. After entering directly from the busy streets of midtown Manhattan into an elevator, the dimension of the room comes as a surprise - a classic New York ballroom with a pretty high ceiling, a balcony on top for a quiet experience and wide ground area completely carpeted, giving an extra cozy feeling.
The opening band, Love Language, was also a very good surprise - catchy pop-rock songs that got the attention of everyone. Certainly they will be a major act in the future. On top of this, the show was sold-out, so the conditions were ideal for the concert, and Camera Obscura did not disappoint. They even treated the audience with a string section that gave an extra touch to their performance, presenting a “best-of” from their career. The interaction of the band with the public is modest, but sincere. In the middle of the concert Tracyanne even satisfied a personal request from the audience and took a photo with a fan. The highlight came when some of the most popular singles were played in succession, “Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken” (a song that is a reply to Lloyd Cole’s “Are you ready to be heartbroken?”), “If looks it could kill” and “French Navy” (the first single of their most recent album). They wrapped up the concert with a three song encore – “Let’s get out of this country”, “80’s fan” and “Razzle Dazzle Rose” leaving a satisfied audience behind.
Camera Obscura showed that night the reason why we should go see a band playing live. This is the kind of concert that a boy should take a girl to, to dance softly with her, and everyone else to understand the subtleties of getting heartbroken.
Tiago Gil
November 13th, 2011 - 00:30
Thanks for your article. Another point is that being a photographer consists of not only problem in taking award-winning photographs but additionally hardships in getting the best digital camera suited to your needs and most especially hardships in maintaining the caliber of your camera. This is certainly very correct and evident for those photographers that are into capturing a nature’s captivating scenes – the mountains, the actual forests, the actual wild or seas. Visiting these adventurous places absolutely requires a photographic camera that can meet the wild’s harsh setting.