Beirut - Great American Music Hall - 10/20/06

Damn, Beirut is good. Maybe it's because they are young and haven't been jaded by the constant touring needed to support a fringe indie-rock band, but Beirut is still willing to comply to fans' requests and still enjoy performing. This has been one of the best shows of the past year, with lots of energy, a few surprises, and a crowd that was putty in the muscular hands of Zach Condon and his Orkestar.

When I saw them in Cambridge, MA, back in June, they still had their training wheels on. But now that they're playing places like Great American, and bringing their Eastern-European influenced rock to the masses (by the way, did anyone catch Siki, Siki Baba in Borat?). From adorable Kristen to cracked-out Paul, the band has a lot of personality and it comes through during the performance.

As they pushed through a lot of their album material, they pleased every person around me (and presumably everyone in the place, it felt like I knew about half the people at the show, too many to name). But the reason people will be talking about this show a year from now is that the encores were impromptu, having members jump into the audience. They tried to close the night with their version of Siki, Siki Baba, with half the band in the audience playing trumpets toward the ceiling. But the crowd demanded more. They came back to play one more song, Carousels, and it looked like they wanted to keep playing all night, but Zach proclaimed, "We have no more songs" before leaving the stage for good.

Please buy the album, go to the shows, and tell your friends about Beirut. We need more music and more musicians like this.

Beruit - Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)

Beirut - Postcards From Italy

Beirut - Siki, Siki Baba (live in Cambridge, MA) Read the excellent review at Bradley's Almanac and download the whole set.

Postcards from Italy

Originally uploaded by ryanfoley.

I was hanging out in Beantown this last week. It's one of my favorite towns in America, and it didn't disappoint this time either. I'm lucky that I get to visit at least once a year.

Before going, I emailed my friend Geoff, saying, "Geoff, so far, our time in Cambridge has been nothing but trouble. And I'm happy to report that I'm a bigger dick now than ever." Geoff was quite the host, bringing me to a cool bar one night and having me over for a party at his house another.

The bad part about this trip is that it was scheduled exactly when Built to Spill and Radiohead were in San Francisco. But I made up for missing those "mainstream" bands by seeing one of the internet's most hyped artists, Beirut. This band is fronted (and formed) by a 19 year old from New Mexico. He plays almost all the instruments on the album (which doesn't contain a single pluck of a guitar string). His instrumental knowledge goes from piano to accordion to ukulele. The eclectic instruments combined with his strong, vibrato voice, and Eastern European influences leads to a very full and interesting sound.

Originally uploaded by ryanfoley.

While waiting in line for the show, I met two cool Bostonians, Debbie and Dan. We chatted and occasionally overheard the conversation of the group behind us, who were idiots. There were many examples of this, but the best came when one engaged me in conversation. It went a little like this.

Idiot (pointing at my shoes): Hey, did you get those at Nordstrom's?

Me: Nope.

Idiot: Oh, well I tried them on at Nordstrom's. I was going to get them, but my Mom wouldn't let me.

Me: Wait, did you just say you Mom wouldn't let you?

Everyone around: LOL

Me (pointing at the idiot's feet): So are those Mommy approved?

Idiot's cute girlfriend: Ha! Mommy approved!

Anyway, once we got into the small room of the Lily Pad in Cambridge (which could fit about 50 people), we saw the band hanging out, drinking beer. No stage, and definitely no back stage.

Originally uploaded by ryanfoley.

Despite the lousy sound system (the PA blew out before the show, causing them to pipe everything through their back-up keyboard amp), the show was excellent. The 19 year old was a bit shy, singing with his eyes closed and generally avoiding the crowd, but he sounded great. All of the band members were great musicians, but I was especially impressed by the cello player and drummer. And there was a ukulele player/general percussionist that was a great show. He looked pretty nerdy, but had a lot of energy. Without him, I feel that the stand-back-and-listen-without-moving-an-inch crowd would have pushed the atmosphere of the show into the doldrums.

Beirut is planning on touring the West Coast this Fall. If I can get a ticket (I can only imagine how hard it'll be), I'll be there.

Beirut - Postcards from Italy

Beirut - Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)