VIDEO: “No Chance Survival”
Julian Plenti (also known as Paul Banks … of Interpol) played his debut show last weekend at New York’s Guggenheim Museum as part of the It Came From Brooklyn concert series.
Backed by his new band, Plenti played 12 songs. Ten were from his new album, Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper, leaving out only one of the album’s tracks, “Games For Days.” In its place were two covers. The fifth song in the set was America’s “Horse with No Name” and the last was The Pixies’ “Into The White.”
VIDEO: America’s “Horse With No Name”
Plenti had a solid team on stage, including the animated Damian Paris of The Giraffes on guitar, Nick Stumpf of The French Kicks on drums, Dmitry Ishenko of I’m In You (the night’s opening band) on bass, Yoed Nir on cello (who was featured more heavily than Paris in many songs, to great effect), Erica Dicker on violin and Yuiko Kamakara on viola.
Plenti and company wowed the crowd with tranquil yet emotionally evocative, mutli-layered pieces like “No Chance Survival” and “Girl On The Sporting News.” Offering some contrast to those moods were energetic songs like “Fun That We Have” and the Pixies cover, which highlighted Paris’ propensity for guitar-solo intensity.
VIDEO: The Pixies’ “Into The White”
The band was able to pull off a nearly flawless set upon their first show. To help ensure this, before the set, Plenti used a marker to write out some of the lyrics to “Unwind” on a sheet of paper and had it taped just below his set list.
The Guggenheim, a legendary Frank Lloyd Wright structure, was a special, beautiful venue for a show, although there were unfortunate echoes and muddling of sound in parts of the room. But in many cases, the acoustics served only to enhance the mystical qualities of much of Plenti’s writing.
Found in the crowd: Interpol bassist Carlos Dengler, model Helena Christensen, and other friends of the band.
Photo under GNU Free Documentation License
Photo: Enrique Cornejo (under GNU Free Documentation License)
More Julian Plenti 2009 Tour Dates and photos of I’m In You’s opening set are below, after the jump.
Julian Plenti 2009 Tour Dates | Tickets
11/14 - San Diego, CA House of Blues
11/16 - Seattle, OR Chop Suey
11/17 - Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
11/18 - San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
11/19 - Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
11/21 - Chicago, IL Metro
11/23 - Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
11/24 - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
11/25 - Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
11/27 - Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church
12/02 - Academy Manchester, UK
12/03 - Scala London, UK
12/06 - Melkweg, Amsterdam, NH
12/08 - Cologne, DE Kulturkirche
12/09 - Berlin, DE Festaal
12/11 - Vienna, AT Arena Vienna
12/12 - Milan, IT Magazzini
12/13 - Paris, FR Alhambra Theatre Music Hall
Photos: I’m In You
About this last photo: During I’m In You’s set, a maraca came flying across the room, apparently thrown from the stage area. It was hard plastic and hit the floor with a loud crack, without breaking. This visitor picked it up and put it to good use.
