OK Go - London Astoria - 28/9/06
4/5
By: Lauren Gallagher
It's amazing what a few sharp moves, treadmills, the medium of the music video and YouTube exposure can do for a band. Savvy rock poppers OK Go have gone from being a moderately successful Chicago-based indie rock band to a household name. Tonight they play to a crowd heaving with fans ready not just to sing along, but waiting breathlessly in the hope that the four stylish boys will perform their smooth dance moves live.
Eclectically chic in colorful dress shirts and ties (think: an explosion in a Paul Smith store), OK Go step onstage with smiles. They show no signs of poser pretension. They blaze through a blistering set of infectious pop rock, heavily laced with a Pixies influence. The crowd sways with each song, but once they hit their Weezer-esque debut album single 'Get Over It', heads thrash forward and back, and voices scream along with lead singer Damian Kulash's choppy, shouty vocals. He holds the top of the mic stand with his right hand, and nods at the crowd, absorbing their enthusiasm. A slow grin curls his mouth upward, before he takes a flying leap at the mosh pit, only maintaining verticality with the help of a few groping hands.
Just when you thought the crowd couldn't be any wilder, Kulash sets them off again. Straddling the mic stand centre stage with his endlessly long legs, he breaks into 'Here It Goes Again', the bouncy tune made famous by its accompanying music video featuring the band gracefully, and athletically dancing on, off, around, and under a group of treadmills. The poppy toe-tapping number brings the crowd to a full-fledged eruption.
How did Ok Go rise from being at the bottom of Capitol Records priority pile to becoming an internationally recognized group?
First, OK Go had a solid, clever pop song from their second album, 'A Million Ways'. Second, lead singer Damien Kulash's sister, Trish Sie, choreographed a dance routine for the four band members to perform to the tune. Third, the band filmed the routine in someone's backyard. Fourth, the film clip was released online.
Over the course of the video's online life span between mid-'05 to mid-'06 it becomes the world's most downloaded music video thus far, with over 9 million viewers. Despite this surge in recognition, album sales don't do what Capitol expect, but Ok Go have another action plan in their follow up video, 'Here It Goes Again'.
The essentials remained the same: a great pop rock song in 'Here It Goes Again', and another dance choreographed by Sie, but this time utilizing a set of treadmills, making for a humorous, wry, and playful video. One cannot think of one person who has seen it and hasn't smiled.
'Here It Goes Again' is submitted to VH1, which in turn lands them a performance slot on MTV Video Music Awards. The week following their MTV award performance, their album sales nearly doubled.
OK Go might have jumped to fame thanks to a clever video, but they are by no means a gimmick-based band. They've been churning out sharp pop rock since their debut album, and happen to be style savvy. Not only do they dress well and have good taste in choreographers, but Kulash's passion for design goes on display with a non-stop dual slideshow backdrop of vintage prints. Designs by William Morris, and other Art Nouveau designers flicker to Modernism, to the psychedelic and back again, framing the brightly dressed band on stage. The Victoria and Albert Museum would be proud.
What one can say about OK Go without hesitation is that they are a conscious band: conscious of what they produce-sonically, visually, choreographically, and comedically. While our beloved Radiohead and Interpol make the indie-masses meditate on our panic-ridden world, OK Go poke fun-at us and at themselves. If that is the worst crime of music, so be it, and may it be committed time, and time, and time and time again.
At the close of the show, while roadies move gear, Kulash chitchats until all band members are in position to perform the dance routine from the 'A Million Ways' video. The soundman hits play. The jagged intro gives way to the sexy funk twang of the guitar, and they're off. Fingers point, feet stamp, and screams and smiles don't stop as the crowd attempts to imitate the band. OK Go appear to be having the time of their life, and they should. They have quite possibly created the happiest show on earth.
Watch the band's live dance performance at Astoria HERE. Various OK GO videos are available to see HERE.
Photo Credit: Lauren Gallagher
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