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
Tete Plongeant @ Jardim do Principe Real, Lisbon
You probably haven't heard of them before, which is perfectly acceptable, as they're a very recent and garage-wise project. Hailing from Lisbon, Portugal, Tête Plongeant deliver a very interesting fusion of styles in their music, something that caught my attention - bringing us to this review.
The concert itself was set right in the heart of Lisbon, in a very beautiful zone called Jardim do Príncipe Real. The band was playing for free to whoever was passing by, in a very simple stage, setting the right mood for what they were offering.
Tête Plongeant mix genres in a very uncommon way, with the lead guitarist bringing shades of blues and rock, only to be followed by a Didgeridoo intro in the next song and several other odd combos between world music, rock and funk. During the show, there were some loose ends in need of solving, something that rehearsal time can and will fix; sometimes it felt like things weren't completely rock solid in some of the songs, but putting things into perspective, there's a very good vibe about these guys, and what they're aiming at is really nice and, more importantly, fresh in today's musical panorama, where it becomes really hard to have something new to say without leeching others' recipes.
Though there's not much to be heard (unfortunately), you can check them out at their myspace page.
Au Revoir Simone @ S. Mamede, Guimaraes
Captivating a mainstream world where Auto-tune is king is hard. And when it comes to a genre which goes in limbo between dreamy and psychedelic, beatbox kicking within synth atmosphere, you can imagine what it takes.
Au Revoir Simone are, let's face it, an odd bunch. Three geek-looking girls armed with a couple of keyboards and an electronic drum pattern box defy most of today's band recipes. But there's no real recipe with these girls: it just works fine.
The show was, as Erika Forster put it, divided in two different parts: the first one, very pleasant and very amusing - particularly to a few pre-teen hardcore fans on the first row - which she properly labeled as "the hit section of the show". This was probably the most antecipated hour, featuring most of their well-known songs and setting the right mood for a very participative crowd. As for the second part - "the psychedelic part" - the girls went a bit further with more experimental and heavier sounds; people almost felt like a different band was playing here and there - which was very interesting.
All in all, the band did what was expected: a mellow groove show with a chilled-out atmosphere which entertained the audience and left no-one disappointed.
