First of all, forget anything even remotely shitty I might have ever said about Telekinesis. They were awesome. Completely energetic and rocking... kind of like they are here. Ok, so "rocking" is not the adjective I would normally use to describe their sound, but they kind of did! Not only were they having a lot of fun on stage, they seemed to have formed quite the tight community of sound up there too.
To be fair, the first time I saw Telekinesis, Michael Lerner had a different set of band mates and wasn't really established as a touring performer yet, so it's not entirely his fault. The second time I saw them, the new band, and the still current one, had been added, but they weren't as tight as they are now. This new album, which makes up the bulk of their set, was written in short order in Berlin, mostly on Bass, which is not Lerner's instrument of choice. He's a drummer, ya'll, so having the talents of someone like Jason Narducy, who is known for playing with greats like Robert Pollard of GBV, on with the band to round out the sound, is truly amazing. Plus, I forgot, er well, didn't realize that I recognized the guitarist, Cody Votolato, from his days in Jaguar Love (who I saw at The Black Cat in 2009). I have a thing for guitarists, and he is no exception. He is great. But don't take my word for it... or you know, do.
In addition to the aforementioned talent and seeming growth of this band over the course of a year, the tour itself must have amplified all this. We were also introduced to The Belle Brigade, a brother-sister duo (which never gets old for me) backed by a full band, who aptly prepped the audience for a hell of an evening. It was air apparent that playing with these guys as well as fellow Merge members and ridiculously fabulous The Love Language had everyone on a tour high. Telekinesis and The Love Language feed off each others' sound and energy and made one hell of a night.
To top it all off, I met Bob Boilen of NPR's All Songs Considered at the bar. I managed to squeak out my appreciation for his contributions to the music world by way of public radio.I literally skipped home from the bus stop.
Overall, this was the best of my five night run. I literally skipped home from the bus stop. How could you not? NPR, Merge Records, guitar crush?? Seriously. I dare you to judge me.
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