Boards
Grizzly Bear w/Beach House last night.
The blighted college town of Ann Arbor Michigan can go a whole quarter without seeing so much as one decent band stop through. Last night the historic Michigan Theater was host to the one and only must see live music event in Ann Arbor this year: Grizzly Bear with Beach House. Beach House have apparently taken to using a very triangle-oriented stage setup, with their instruments covered in a triangle pattern, and Victoria Legrand standing in front of a giant color-changing triangle (whilst rocking intense shoulder pads that a girl behind me expressed jealousy of), which was far from what I expected from the hazy duo (turned trio? there was a drummer with them). Also unexpected was their swaggering set heavy on new material. Expect Beach House's next album to have a more confident sound, and the artwork to have something to do with triangles. And then, Grizzly Bear. I came expecting polite golf-claps between their polite, subtle songs, I saw a crowd's ecstatic response to a band that turns subtle gestures on record into sheer rock power. Things like the upward shift into the chorus of opener "Southern Point" and the climax of "Fine For Now" hit like a sledgehammer to the chest and elicited screaming and assorted freaking out from the crowd. Not to mention Victoria Legrand's guest vocal on "Two Weeks" and, yes, mid set, they graced us with "Knife." Returning to the stage after a standing ovation to play "He Hit Me(And It Felt Like A Kiss)," the band made their last song count and shook every molecule of the theater, their harmonies still ringing in our heads as the crowed filed out.