bear in heaven concert review

I saw Bear in Heaven at south street seaport here in nyc the other day. I love how much free stuff there is to do in the city seriously. Well, we got there at 6 so we heard the opening acts. The dj was so unremarkable i don't even remember who it was. They played a steady stream of chill indie worthy of urban outfitters. Then came some two-person surprise act who i'd never heard of but who some people in the pitchfork crowd were excited for, even though they played a two song set. whoopee. then Zola Jesus played. I've never listened to them and every song sounded the same to me. Needless to say, I didn't dig it and an hour was torture. We were super grateful drinking beer out of plastic cups seems to be legal there.

Finally, Bear in Heaven came on. I'm honestly confused as to who is actually officially in the band versus who was on stage but there were only three of them instead of the purported four. Jon Philpot is certainly a character. He wore suspenders, an awesome mustache, and an infectious boyish grin. Having only listened to two Bear in Heaven songs before this concert (thanks to free last.fm downloads), I was really surprised when he started singing. His speaking voice is deep but his singing voice is clear and high and deliciously odd. The concert was great. Straightforward chill indie rock. It was worth sitting through Zola Jesus for, to say the least. The crowd was 95% hipsters. My favorite person was for sure this old man to the right of the stage who spent half the concert skipping and spinning like a whirling dervish, half standing in place doing a shaking dance reminiscent of a seizure. I was also super amused when the drummer used a maraca as a drumstick. My only complaint really was the lighting for the show. There was mostly back-lighting which is hell for the light meter on my analog camera. There were some cool strobes though that seemed to be triggered by the drums in certain songs. But, yeah, I want photos of the band's faces, not their silhouettes. Can we get a spotlight at south st seaport?

All-in-all I recommend at least getting those free last.fm downloads and checking out Bear in Heaven. And if you have a chance, go see them in concert. They're touring the US mostly with Twin Sister and then Europe for the rest of the summer and then back to the US where they're even opening for Crystal Castles at a couple of shows.