I was really trying to stay optimistic after having seen, two weeks earlier, NAME DELETED crash and burn in a way I can only describe as a member of the audience of that particular show as being slow and painful to hear, much less watch. Venues like Eddie’s Attic are such a great idea, and when coupled with the right artist, really transcend the live music experience. But when an artist, such as NAME DELETED, who can barely keep in tune on record, decides to do a full set unplugged with limited backup, the experience proved to be monotonous and grating. I left six songs into the show (and it should be known I am a BIG KE Fan!).
Maybe it was the review I had read prior to the show that set the bar too high, describing a recent NAME DELETED concert as an amazing experience. For me the whole thing left a really bad taste in my mouth and I wondered if, in the name of bringing music to the people, venues such as Eddie’s Attic were actually stripping musicians of their power by putting them into such an intimate setting. It really is sink or swim when your audience is 10 feet in front of you. And in today’s world of autotune technology and choreographed pyrotechnic dance routines, it really proves a musician’s worth to sit 10 feet away from him or her and hope they can hit the same notes you hear on your ipod.
Enter KaiserCartel. A recent discovery through LOGO Television’s New Now Next programming, their video for Okay has been one of the few musical highlights of 2009 for me (I’d also like to give a shout out to LOGO for the playing the music MTV should be playing but doesn’t!). The boy/girl set up of the band would be a cliche (think Ting Tings, Subarmines, Mates of State, The Spinanes, Judd & Maggie, etc…) if their songs weren’t so intimate and fully formed. And to hear them live, I was totally floored by their performances. The instrumentation was varied, the notes on key, and the tunes instantly affecting.
Of course for me the highlight of the show was Okay, partly because the song builds from a whisper into a soaring paen to a relationship beginning to sour. It’s bittersweet with gorgeous boy/girl harmonies intertwining and Courtney Kaiser repeating “It’s okay if you want to move on”. Of all their songs, this really plays up the strengths of the pair; while some duo’s voices just don’t match up (Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan), or they can’t play different instruments in a way that varies their sound (Submarines). KaiserCartel’s voices are completely suited for one another and reflect off each other so perfectly the audience can’t help but be charmed.
Other high points included Courtney’s use of a battery powered beverage frother on a xylophone as part of the instrumentation for Favorite Song that still has me smirking and Ben Cartel’s attempt to get the audience to clap along to Season Song (something that was not necessarily in sync with the song…). And while titles weren’t given for the new songs, they sounded quite promising and have me looking forward to the next LP.
The last song of the night, Shira, was played completely unplugged, as the duo stepped off stage to serenade the audience. It was a quiet ending from a band best known for mining the quieter moments of life and weaving them into memorable, affecting songs.
Looking back, you really can’t blame a venue for the way a live act is presented to an audience. After seeing KaiserCartel dominate their set, I find it funny that, in comparison to a nationally recognized entertainer who ended up on many best of ‘08 lists, that two teachers from Brooklyn walked on stage and blew her away. Highly recommended!
