Blonde Redhead in Review (in words only)

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Blonde Redhead and Ólöf Arnalds at La Zona Rosa. It was Ólöf Arnalds' final night on the tour and she was in good spirits cracking jokes with the crowd in a thick Icelandic accent. She performed solo with acoustic instruments making it difficult to hear her over the din of people chatting and arriving to the show. Those of us who were paying attention were entertained by her delicate, beautiful folk songs interspersed with quips and brief stories. My favorite story was about how she and her friends call finger-picking "omelettes" and they like to have "omelette competitions". She had such a good omelette going that she maintained it through three songs, whose run ended in a Bruce Springsteen cover.


After Ólöf Arnalds, Blonde Redhead took to the stage. There were four members dressed in head-to-toe white with Kazu Makino wearing a helmet/mask that looked like a white porcelain horse head with blonde pigtails coming out of the nose. The lighting was definitely the fifth member of the band. During their entrance and most of the first song the band was lit by a dozen bare light bulbs whose tungsten flickered like 12 little flames scattered across the stage. At the back of the stage were 9 photographer's umbrellas, the silver facing the audience, which worked to light the band at some points while silhouetting them at other points. All in all the lighting served to add another layer of atmosphere to a sound that was already loaded with sonic textures.

The set was peppered with songs from all periods but mostly focused on the latest album, Penny Sparkle as well as lots of tunes from 23. The entire set had a great flow, which culminated with an intense version of the song 23. to close things out. The audience walked out like they had just seen Schindler's List, with looks of deepest awe upon their faces. In short, if you haven't seen Blonde Redhead and they're coming to your town, you should probably get yourself a ticket. Or, if you missed them last night you might want to start beating yourself up now. Sorry.
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Don't Miss Blonde Redhead at LZR

Dang, y'all I'm bummed that I'm probably going to have to miss Blonde Redhead at La Zona Rosa Wednesday night. Officially the group is a trio, still based out of New York City but chances are there will be four people doing some indie-rock shredding on stage Wednesday night. If you've never heard them before they are one part shoe-gaze, one part prog and one part indie. They have the technical skills of a prog band but there is still the cool, disaffected vibe of a new-wave band in some of the tunes. Their 2007 release, 23 saw the group moving toward a more accessible sound getting them lots of licensing deals and recognition. Their newest album came out last month and it's called Penny Sparkle. As of the writing of this post, tickets are still available and will set you back $22 if purchased in advance of the show. Typically shows at La Zona Rosa are done by midnight so plan accordingly.


Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes (4AD Session) video via YouTube



Blonde Redhead - Not Getting There video via YouTube

As of this moment there is no local opener for Wednesday night's show but that doesn't mean one won't be added between now and then. For now, there is only one artist performing before Blonde Redhead and that is Icelandic singer/songwriter Ólöf Arnalds. Arnalds has been a touring member of the band Múm but is here in the states in support of her latest release Innundir skinni. The following song features another artist from Iceland you might be familiar with. Have you ever heard of Björk?


Ólöf Arnalds - Surrender video via YouTube

The show isn't until Wednesday, and as I said, I probably won't be able to make it but I can already tell that if I were to go I would be irritated with people talking through Ólöf Arnalds' set. So, please, please if YOU attend the show just be quiet while she is performing. Her music is, obviously, delicate and requires a respectful audience but this IS Austin and we all know that people just go to shows to chat with their friends...loudly. Oh, Austin!


Ólöf Arnalds - Innundir skinni video via YouTube

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