The Big Pink will undoubtedly be scrutinized for hailing from the U.K. and being well-received. The duo of Robbie Furze and Milo Cordel offers a take on noisy shoegaze,with modern production and a large fuzzed out and distorted guitar wall of sound. Their debut, A Brief History of Love, has been getting great reviews and the catchy as hell “Dominoes” has been getting plenty of attention. With all of that, the band played the first of two dates in New York at the Bowery Ballroom and the crowd came out to see what all the fuss was about.
The band started their set a little after 11 p.m. with “Too Young to Love”. The brooding mid-tempo piece is full of ambiance and a denseness to it that envelopes the listener rather than dominating them. It’s brooding but has some steady beats that draw you into the music. Rather than leaving you cold, the lyrics and music are passionate and earnest affairs, showcasing every aspect of life and love.
Read more of the review after the jump.
The sound at the Bowery Ballroom, once again, was spot on allowing for the subtlety and nuance of each song to shine. This was further aided by live members bassist Leopold Ross on bass and Akiko Matsuura on drums. I tend to be disenchanted with the live performance of a duo as there is so much that relies on production and the magic you could work in a studio. When a duo is then left to tour, all your favorite songs tend to feel flat thanks to a backing track and loop that’s canned.
The added members helped diversify the sound and really gave the songs the structure and backbone that was necessary. The wall of sound The Big Pink was trying to build would have been awfully flimsy without some crashing drums or bass.
To match the large sound, there was plenty of production value in the show. The strobe lighting was popping, casting the band members as shadows. A nice touch that was not as blinding as I thought.
The band played an extremely tight set with not a lot of set banter but the band put plenty of energy into each song. Lead singer Furze was constantly bounding around the stage, emphatically doing his part to create as much noise as possible.
“Velvet” was a nice highlight and the set was hitting the right notes but unfortunately it ended way too quickly. A short set of roughly 45 minutes, the band could have played some more tracks from their debut or a couple of covers they are known to play but when “Dominos” hit and the band said “Goodnight” they meant it.
Perhaps in their upcoming tour the band will have a chance to flesh out their set and show off more.
Bowery Ballroom Setlist
Too Young to Love
Frisk
At War with the Sun
Velvet
Crystal Visions
Count Backwards From Ten
Tonight
These Arms of Mine (Otis Redding)
Dominos
Before The Big Pink came, Von Haze and The Crystal Antlers supported them.
The Crystal Antlers added their own energetic twist to the psychedelic garage rock genre. The band was tight with plenty of swirling songs. The pace was frantic with plenty of energy. It was a nice counterpoint to Von Haze.
There were plenty of breakdowns, lots of guitar and plenty to watch. An entertaining set that had a little something for everyone. Even the kind of ballad “A Thousand Eyes” had a unique spin on it with its emphatic hook and hypnotic breakdown. A liberating set that was rough around the edges and punk.
Von Haze were an interesting, albeit hushed duo. The minimalist design of the songs were interesting but a little too slow paced to really win the crowd over. The moments of intensity and emotion as well as evocative guitar playing were definitely highlights of the set, but at times these glimpses were too fleeting to be truly enjoyed. It was lo-fi with distant vocals and drenched in distortion with buzzing drum loops that played well into the core sound of The Big Pink.
