I was present at the above show in the Olympia on Thursday night thanks to Ben from The Leaf label. Unfortunately I only caught the last 30 seconds of A Hawk and a Hacksaw (what I heard sounded great) but at least they re-appeared later as a part of Beirut’s set.
So what I think of the music blogpshere’s find of the year? In short, Beirut were excellent and showed up Calexico’s tired and frankly boring set. It was a delight to see Zack Condon’s young troubadours give it plenty with their array of ukeleles, trumpets, percussive instruments, keyboard, cello, violin and accordion. Considering that 20 year old Zack played all of the instruments on the album himself (which is an amazing feat) and the band’s first show was by all accounts shambolic, it’s great to see how they’ve grown into a tighter unit.
If I’m honest, none of the songs I’d heard from him grabbed me in the last six months until I heard “Postcards from Italy” and seeing them live also helped make more sense of the band. Their Balkan influenced songs sounded great in majestic decor of the Olympia. Zack was also clearly revelling in the ability to legally drink outside the States. They played a lot of the properly-released-this-week album Gulag Orkestar and ended their set with a rousing cover of the theme song from Terry Gilliam’s film Brazil with the band member with the self-confessed Jeffrey Dahmer glasses banging his gypsy tambourine in the audience. An excellent set.
Beirut – Postcards from Italy live
[youtube]I_Oj5c9Z2YY[/youtube]
A few words about Calexico. I love the album Feast of Wire but anything new from the band seems to be a lot less distinctive. I got quickly bored of the new songs they played but when they did play a tune I knew, I thought singer Joey was over-stressing the lyrics to the point of annoyance. I spent the rest of the night in the bar after that. Their visuals were pretty good though!
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
A ticket wasted on a dumbass like you, no doubt.
A ticket wasted on a dumbass like you, no doubt.
(Ana J, that seems a bit abusive to me.) Anyway, hi Nialler9, I was at a Beirut gig in London last Sunday. Zach couldn’t play due to ‘unfortunate personal circumstances’ which was a bummer but the rest of the band joined A Hawk and a Hacksaw after a set from the two of them and the whole thing was riotous and hugely memorable. By the end it wasn’t possible to feel any disappointment, AHAAH were too wonderful and the Beirut boys on stage with them too much fun. Review and photos here – http://cellularfever.blogspot.com/2006/11/hawk-and-hacksaw-almost-beirut-kid.html
(Ana J, that seems a bit abusive to me.) Anyway, hi Nialler9, I was at a Beirut gig in London last Sunday. Zach couldn’t play due to ‘unfortunate personal circumstances’ which was a bummer but the rest of the band joined A Hawk and a Hacksaw after a set from the two of them and the whole thing was riotous and hugely memorable. By the end it wasn’t possible to feel any disappointment, AHAAH were too wonderful and the Beirut boys on stage with them too much fun. Review and photos here – http://cellularfever.blogspot.com/2006/11/hawk-and-hacksaw-almost-beirut-kid.html
Nice, Jane.. Pity you missed Zack but it looks likr A Hawk and a Hacksaw made up for it. I’ll be hoping to see them soon as I missed them myself.
Nice, Jane.. Pity you missed Zack but it looks likr A Hawk and a Hacksaw made up for it. I’ll be hoping to see them soon as I missed them myself.