The Polyphonic Spree

[Van Basten II]

Had a CD of them but nothing prepared me for the live band. Livin' in a city where we too often get to see reduced bands for economical reasons, it was fun to see a whole band on stage.

And talking about a whole band this was a humengous band, two drummers, two guitarist, one electric bass, one flutist, a horn section with two trumpets and a trombone, a string section with two violins and a cello, an harpist, one electic piano, a keyboard and electronic player, to top it off you had 7 girls doing backing vocals, plus the leader/singer/ guru.

They come into the show all dressed the same in what looks like an army suit. Music wise they aremind me a lot of The Flaming Lips. But what really standed out was the attitude of the group. They do all sorts of choregraphies during the songs, interacting with the fans, looking at them directly, singing at the top of their lungs. A few times during the gig instrumentalists danced with the crowd.

The leader/singer works the crowd putting them into a frenzy, he forced about everybody who was sitting in the sides of the scene to lave their places and move into the front of the stage where they were no chairs. To say the least it was a very intense show.

So about after 75 minutes the show was over and it was time for the encore, they came back through the crowd all dress in long white robes, told ya it was a cult. The group went for a very cathatic Lithium, the encore lasted an hour they played until midnight.

The only bummer was that there was about 100 people in a place that could take about 1000. Another case where the absents are always wrong.

Edited July 4, 2007 by Van Basten II