At Masquerade on Tuesday, Brooklyn-based indie-rockers Yeasayer propelled their already fantastic repertoire into something even greater, striking a fine balance between earnest sincerity and playful gratification. With both vocalists dressed in jumpsuits—Chris Keating in monochrome, Anand Wilder in multicolor—and a backdrop of large vividly colored cubes of ever-shifting light, the band’s fun-filled vibes had the sold-out crowd keyed up and eating out of the palms of their hands throughout their short but powerful set. Case in point: the guy next to me who kept chanting, “this is THE BEST show I’ve EVER SEEN.” There was more than one moment when the floor was literally shaking so hard I thought it was going to cave in, and I probably would have gone down cheering if it had.
With a particularly funkified rendition of murky opener “The Children,” Yeasayer quickly set into motion an energetic sequence of feel-good sonic confection, including upbeat and unsinkable crowd favorite “Ambling Alp” (word of wisdom: check out the music video, it’s insane and filled with nudity). The guys played the entirety of 2010’s synth-heavy, dance-friendly sophomore gem Odd Blood, smoothly interspersed with hits from their first album, the gorgeous, genre-bending masterpiece All Hour Cymbals, as well as winning Dark Was the Night contribution “Tightrope.”
Photo Credit: Guy Aroch
Yeasayer reached that utopian middle-ground that few live acts master, staying faithful to their quirky recordings while bringing a special kind of freshness to the show that makes concertgoers feel like their experience is unique. There was nothing contrived in each band member’s motley form of infectious enthusiasm—Keating jolted and swayed and smiled and closed his eyes as he crooned into the mic; Luke Fasano seemed ready to get up and dance as he beat away at the drum set; Wilder and bassist Ira Wolf Tuton played their instruments like extensions of themselves, completely focused and completely at ease in the stratifications of sound they were producing. The guys didn’t need to resort to any kind of gimmicks or over-the-top stage antics—they had nothing to prove but everything to show why they’re a band worth following.
The set concluded with a short and sweet encore twofer that featured buoyant, synth-drenched Odd Blood closer “Grizelda” followed by the haunting percolations of All Hour Cymbals’ more organic-sounding “Sunrise.” These two tracks stood well together, both layering sinuous vocally-driven melodies over snappy polyrhythmic syncopations.
Like that of many bands, Yeasayer’s compositions have evolved into a decidedly more synthesized realm—sometimes to the point where you miss their more tribally-minded beginnings—and yet the artful progression and sheer exuberance of the band’s live performance proved to me that they are not only aware but in control of their own transitions, and far from selling out. The passion exhibited by every individual onstage coalesced nicely into an overall sense of mutual respect, both between band members and between band and audience. Further proving their down-to-earth charm, the guys actually came down and hung out with fans at Masquerade’s modest little bar after the show.
Continually compared to more well-known indie-rocking peers MGMT, perhaps due in part to the timing of their respective 2007 debuts, Yeasayer outshined the latter by a long-shot, cutting the patronizing bullshit and inexplicable resentment that MGMT tends to bring to their own lackluster performances and replacing it with hard work, humility, and a whole lot of enthusiasm. In other words, whereas MGMT makes you kind of hate them after seeing them live, an encounter with Yeasayer just piles on more reasons for unconditional love.
Review by Hilary Cadigan
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