Dirty Projectors & tUnE-YaRdS The Scala, London 13/9/09
5/5
By: Izzy James
I don’t know about you, but these days I’m finding it increasingly difficult to come across a band that not only delights and enthrals on record, but who can also induce a heightened level of excitement before that first occasion when I get to witness them live. For the first time in too long, Dirty Projectors produced such an emotion. Maybe it was because I had heard such good things about them live from so many trusted sources, or maybe it’s because a mere 3 months after its release, Bitte Orca is already a treasured album in my collection, and one which I know will be adored for many a year to come. I’d like to think it was a healthy mix of two.
Support for this tour comes in the form of the tUnE-YaRdS, who luckily are weird and wonderful enough to grasp the attention of the eagerly awaiting crowd – so much so that whole room is eerily silent for a London audience, whether out of fear or sheer awe for this bizarre, yodelling, ukulele wielding woman remains to be seen, that is until the raucous applause kicks in after each and every song, which then later accumulates to many requests of an ‘encore’ at the end of her set, leaving no doubt that the latter presumption is indeed the correct one.
With such a crowd-pleasing support act, you might think Dirty Projectors would take a while to warm up. Of course, this is not so. Opening song ‘Two Doves’ may seem like an odd choice, being one of the slower tracks off of Bitte Orca, but the sickly sweet vocals from female beauty Angel Deradoorian mesmerise the room, and make the anticipation of hearing Dave Longstreth’s unique singing talents all the more intense. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that his is a voice which can only be described as, well, elusive. He has the impossible operatic range of the great Jeff Buckley, yet he flits between opposite ends of the scale with as much vigour as a jazz musician. It may sound like a recipe for disaster, but when combined with peculiar lyrics peppered throughout so many of the songs from Bitte Orca, (a firm favourite being, “and what hits the spot yeah, like Gatorade?” from Temucla Sunrise) it just somehow works, really bloody well.
A few tracks are played from 2007 album Rise Above, a “reimagined” take on Black Flag’s Damaged – a strange marriage in concept, but a beautiful one in reality. However, with fewer screams of approval following the performance of each song from the earlier album, it is apparent to both the audience and band that the prospect of Bitte Orca live is what everyone has really come to see, and you would be hard stretched to find an audience member who left the Scala disappointed that night. The only issue any one person could possibly have would have to be the lack of strings – most notably on crowd favourite ‘Stillness is the Move’, where their absence is obvious, but does little to hinder the overall, glorious outcome. Being a Dirty Projectors virgin is fun while it lasts, but please, believe me, having them pop your cherry is even sweeter.
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Artists in this article: Dirty Projectors, tUnE-YaRdS
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