Go Acoustic to Hear a Band Out Loud
I recently had the honor of having a solo photography show at a gallery in the DUMBO neighborhood of New York City. While planning the opening my manager and I decided that we really needed to make this a rock and roll event, not just your run of the mill bad wine and cheese cubes art opening. We decided to see if we could tap into the local talent and ask Nada Surf if they’d be willing to play a small set to provide the event with said rock ingredient. We were ecstatic to hear that they would indeed be willing to play the event. Doubly cool since I decided to include two prints of them in the show. That left us with a whole new set of problems. How do we take a band that packs ‘em in all over the globe and have them play a compelling set in a fairly small photography gallery?
All parties involved, the Gallery, myself, the band, their manager and my manager began to weigh in. It was clear that a full on electric performance was out of the question so we all knew that we were dealing with an acoustic set. Some were asking for a small PA but I had a hunch that the band should just come in and set up and break it out busking style with just their gear and their vocal chords – no amps and no mics - just the power of their voices and their acoustic gear with nothing to hide behind. It was finally settled that this was the way to go when Daniel Lorca, he of the gravity defying dreads and bass player for Nada Surf, mentioned they’d done just that at their local during the winter holidays and that it had been pretty amazing.
The night arrived and the place was packed, I have to say largely due to the much hyped appearance by the band and perhaps a small bit due to my work on the walls (the free beer from the provided by the Brooklyn Brewery didn’t hurt either). The guys showed up toting their acoustic gear and set up in a corner of the gallery and got down to business.
I had seen Nada Surf on many occasions, always the full rock action with loads of PA, amps and full on drum kits - all of it mic’d to the gills. This was going to be far different. As soon as they began I knew I was seeing and hearing something really special that I doubt many of today’s pop groups could pull off. The ease that they belted the songs out, harmonizing and dynamically building the tunes up and down was just amazing. No vocal processing or reverb to help out the vocals, or pedals to drive the guitar over the edge for a break, just honest playing and singing, with some healthy assists from the crowd during a few numbers like Blankest Year and Always Love (Yeah!).
The 30 minute show was brilliant and it made me realize something. Sometimes the way to see the true talent of band you have to strip them down to the bone – and see if they can pull it off. Most so called acoustic shows still rely on mic’ing all the gear, blowing the vocals up with the PA and adding healthy dose of ‘verb to make the voice palatable. If it’s MTV Unplugged why the F is everything plugged in? So if you ever get a chance to see one of your favorite bands play a true acoustic show you should jump at it. You may be surprised by what you hear - and I hope to hell it’s in a good way.
Rock On and Rock Often
All parties involved, the Gallery, myself, the band, their manager and my manager began to weigh in. It was clear that a full on electric performance was out of the question so we all knew that we were dealing with an acoustic set. Some were asking for a small PA but I had a hunch that the band should just come in and set up and break it out busking style with just their gear and their vocal chords – no amps and no mics - just the power of their voices and their acoustic gear with nothing to hide behind. It was finally settled that this was the way to go when Daniel Lorca, he of the gravity defying dreads and bass player for Nada Surf, mentioned they’d done just that at their local during the winter holidays and that it had been pretty amazing.
The night arrived and the place was packed, I have to say largely due to the much hyped appearance by the band and perhaps a small bit due to my work on the walls (the free beer from the provided by the Brooklyn Brewery didn’t hurt either). The guys showed up toting their acoustic gear and set up in a corner of the gallery and got down to business.
I had seen Nada Surf on many occasions, always the full rock action with loads of PA, amps and full on drum kits - all of it mic’d to the gills. This was going to be far different. As soon as they began I knew I was seeing and hearing something really special that I doubt many of today’s pop groups could pull off. The ease that they belted the songs out, harmonizing and dynamically building the tunes up and down was just amazing. No vocal processing or reverb to help out the vocals, or pedals to drive the guitar over the edge for a break, just honest playing and singing, with some healthy assists from the crowd during a few numbers like Blankest Year and Always Love (Yeah!).
The 30 minute show was brilliant and it made me realize something. Sometimes the way to see the true talent of band you have to strip them down to the bone – and see if they can pull it off. Most so called acoustic shows still rely on mic’ing all the gear, blowing the vocals up with the PA and adding healthy dose of ‘verb to make the voice palatable. If it’s MTV Unplugged why the F is everything plugged in? So if you ever get a chance to see one of your favorite bands play a true acoustic show you should jump at it. You may be surprised by what you hear - and I hope to hell it’s in a good way.
Rock On and Rock Often
Comments
posted on Jun 12 at 1:25 pm
I was at that show, and the writer could not have said it better. What a night! Who knew that he can write AND take amazing photos?
