|
|
|
CONCERT REVIEW: Isaac Delusion / Cruiser / The Downtown Club March 1 @ North Star Bar
Some of the best shows have that effortless atmosphere of fun and intimacy too, like Friday's Isaac Delusion show at North Star Bar.
CONCERT REVIEW: Isaac Delusion / Cruiser / The Downtown Club March 1 @ North Star Bar
You know those parties that feel totally perfect? The ones where everybody gets to dance to music they love, and it keeps you moving without wearing you out? Where rock and electronica sit side by side without anybody batting an eyelash because something’s too jarring or out of place? Where people keep themselves in check so well that you don’t have to clean up blood or haul buckets of vomit out the window?
Some of the best shows have that effortless atmosphere of fun and intimacy too, like Friday’s Isaac Delusion show at North Star Bar.
The Fairmount venue was sparse that night, but the air was still electric with energy throughout every song from the trans-Atlantic set of acts. Show openers The Downtown Club set everything off with a set mainly featuring songs from their upcoming album. Anybody who has seen this Philly trio from their inception can chart an evolution in their sound, incorporating more and more ethereal minimalism into their post-punk mix. The songs are just as unrelentingly hard-hitting, but do so with a bit more subtlety, especially in frontwoman April Harkanson’s winding guitar lines and urgency-laced vocals.
Cruiser took the stage afterwards for an extremely polished and pleasant set that sent the audience to California-in-the-summer and back with tunes from their latest EP. Andy States, the Philly-based singer-songwriter who conceived the record with producer Jeremy Park (also known for his work on Youth Lagoon’s The Year of Hibernation) creates garage rock that is just at home at a beachside barbeque as it is in Fairmount. The music took turns away from this formula at opportune moments, though, with the band moving into syncopations and off-beat guitar licks that explored funk and reggae. States’s baritone voice seamlessly wandered through the soundscape of reverb-soaked guitars to create something as beautiful as it was extremely tight.
The rhythmic slant of the evening segued well into Isaac Delusion’s headlining set. The Paris duo was joined by a bass guitarist to give their bright, poppy electronica an added intensity. Standing behind synths and a guitar, respectively, the band approaches its music like conceptual artists. Their latest release, the Early Morning EP, mixes dance and hip-hop beats with a folk music-tinged lightness that is meant to evoke (you guessed it) the first hours after awakening. As gently as it treads, this is also music that works well in the best of night-time settings. Singer L. commands audience with a sweet charisma and distinctive tone, soft but intriguing enough that you won’t just ignore his lyrics. With a profile that’s been growing through increased touring across Europe and North America (and a full-length on the way), this is a band to watch grow.
It is a shame that there weren’t more people at this show. But sometimes the best parties don’t need to be packed wall-to-wall. Sometimes they just need a few enthusiastic people to create a feel that’s just right.
- Activism
- Arts
- Arts Events
- Books
- Dance
- First Person Fest
- Last Chance
- Museum
- On the Fringe
- Philly Artists
- The Curator
- Theater
- Visual Art
- Arts News
- Artist Profile
- Arts Preview
- Street Art
- Been There, Done That
- Big Ups
- Comedy
- LOL With It
- Stand-up
- Critical Mass
- DVD
- Events
- Friday Fill-in
- Ice Cubes
- In Memoriam
- Interview
- Just Do It
- Just Opened
- Kaleidoscopic
- LGBTQ
- Art Phag
- Mailbag
- Movies
- Film Fest
- Movie Review
- On set
- Scenester
- screening
- trailer!
- Music
- 10 Track Mind
- Album
- Album Review
- Concert Review
- DJs
- Local Support
- Now Hear This
- One Track Mind
- Philly Bands
- Show
- Somebody Else Was There
- Song
- The Showdown
- concert photos
- jazz
- DJ Nights Blogged
- Night Watch
- Now See This
- Poetic License
- Printed Matter
- Radio
- Shopping
- Coveted
- Fashion
- What We Heart
- TV
- 24
- Idol Hands
- Mad Men
- ProjRun
- True Blood
- Useless Lost Recaps
- Couch Potato
- Shore Trash
- Turned ONN
- TopMod
- Video Games
- Free Online Game
- PSP
- PlayStation 2
- The 1-Upper
- Wii
- Web Junk
- CAGE MATCH
- Free Online Toy
- Weekend Omnibus
- Win
