Le Loup, Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY. 3/25/08.
When we saw that Le Loup was playing at Union Hall, we knew that our friend Joe McCaffrey, from Nightmare of You, would be at the show. So we asked him to review the show for us! Here’s Joe’s Review:
Disclaimer*** This is a completely biased review. I hardly ever go
to shows unless I am either already a fan of the music or am somehow
affiliated with the organization. It is a very rare occasion such as
this that I find myself writing about the experience. I haven’t
payed respect to the exigencies of objective writing since college
and I don’t plan on rekindling that relationship anytime soon. With
that said…
More of the review after the jump:
I had the pleasure of seeing Le Loup perform last night at Union
Hall. The intimate venue complete with competitive bocce ball and
cheering section sold itself to capacity with a crowd buzzing in
anticipation for a great show. I was thoroughly impressed by
Brooklyn’s energy and enthusiasm for a Monday night.
I got there in time to catch The Ruby Suns. Upon entering the small
room I noticed New Pornographers’ Carl Newman standing at the bar and
I naturally followed suit in ordering a beer. I was immediately
sucked into the sound. The trio from New Zealand impressed me with
their ability to keep a seemingly constant beat or groove to their
music despite the lack of traditional “drummer”. I enjoyed the
various grooves, beats and loops that kept the crowd zoomed in
throughout their breezy set. I would describe the experience in two
words as “ethereal” and “bouncy”. Fair enough?
Though the room was seemingly full when The Ruby Suns performed it
began to swell even more as the 7 members of Le Loup set the stage.
I couldn’t help but notice that even during the bands sound check all
eyes were on them. I got the impression there were a lot of first
timers there curious to see what the fuss was all about. With the
band being fresh off a European tour and having been many months
since I had seen them at the Bowery Ballroom, I too was very excited
for their set.
Much to my surprise and delight the band opened the show with a new
song I later learned to be titled “Beach House”. They stick to the
program with this new number and highlight their talent for layered
vocal harmonies and powerful dynamics. It is clear to me after just
a few minutes of music how much this band has grown in only months
since I had seen them last. I was now witnessing a “band” and not a
cleverly orchestrated and heavily practiced routine. Not that they
haven’t always been a band but there was a different level of comfort
and confidence coming from the stage I had not witnessed at past
shows. Even aesthetically they looked more like a band in my
opinion. Most importantly, the sound coming from all seven members
seemed to mesh in a way that I know is a direct result of playing
nearly 30 shows in rapid succession around the globe.
At this point I was trying to capture a couple of quick photos but it
was seemingly impossible for me to find a decent vantage point in
this tiny room full of people, pillars and a low ceiling with lights
hanging down from it. Despite my fisher price camera I was able to
convince the guy with the fancy camera on the side of the stage that
I was a friend of the band and just wanted to take a couple of quick
shots. He didn’t seem to mind sharing some space for a minute and I
did the best I could before retreating back to the bar.
The set continued on with very little downtime between songs and many
times one song would transition into the next seamlessly. While I
recognized most of the songs from the Band’s debut album and previous
shows, I noticed that they were taking liberties in songs to make
changes. Changes in tempo, instrumentation, dynamics and mood were
evident throughout the set. A perfect example of this and highlight
for me was during “Outside Of This Car Is The End Of The World”. It
was during this song that I realized how truly impressed I was by the
bands rhythm section. While Sam Simkoff continues to do a great job
of commanding the stage and carefully controlling energy and
dynamics, Rob Sahm (drums) and Dan Ryan (Bass) prove to be one of the
tightest rhythm sections I have seen in some time. The combination
of Rob’s highly syncopated beats and Dan’s frequent tendency to play
shakers, bass and sing simultaneously is enough to distract me for a
while from the fact that there were 5 other people on the stage at
the time. This song in particular caught me off guard as the sound
shifted to a heavy drum and bass dance groove that could have easily
been birthed by DFA. Only moments later I found myself mesmerized by
a sound that resembled a harpsichord during a more smooth and spaced
out movement. The band took the entire room, myself included on a
music journey that never lulled in excitement. The place was just as
packed during the last song as the first. The show came to an end
with another new song titled “Celebration”. It certainly sounded
like one to me. The enthusiastic applause as the band said goodnight
was proof enough of a unified vote of approval and satisfaction. I
know at the very least that I was satisfied.
For those of you who only know Le Loup via the hype machine you
should do yourselves a favor and go to a show to see for yourselves.
Forget comparisons to Arcade Fire or Animal Collective. Yes it is
more than likely that if you enjoy those groups that you will have an
ear for Le Loup however I truly believe they have created something
that is their own and should be experienced for what it is and
without comparison. I hope to see this band continue to grow and am
looking forward to hearing more from them soon.
Setlist:
Beach House
Sea Took Me
Le Loup
Look To The West
We Are Gods
To The Stars
Canto
Outside Of This Car Is The End Of The World
Had A Dream I Died
Celebration
Having a hard time getting all the band members in one shot:
And then this time with different lighting:
Le Loup’s Merch Person:
March 25th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Nice review! Le Loup is a great band. Glad to hear their music and performance is continuing to improve to the stars