Being There :: Junior Boys @ El Rey Theatre :: LA - danosaur
Wednesday night the Junior Boys played to a doting and anticipatory crowd at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. Being a HUGE fan of their albums, and especially their latest effort, Begone Dull Care, I was more than excited to see how their music would translate to a live performance. I arrived in time to run into some friends and find the perfect spot to enjoy the Junior Boys in all their (hopeful) glory.
My dreams and expectations for the evening crashed and burned almost instantly. From the first note and first glimpse of the band, I knew the night was going south, in a big way. The band’s stage presence reminded me of something I had seen before. It took me a minute, but I finally figured it out—the all-Freshman rock band that performed at my high school’s talent show when I was a Senior. The Junior Boys’ stiff rigidness was shocking, and clashed with the emotive nature of their sound. Their lack of care was completely apparent as they stood on stage like lifeless drones, pounding on keyboard, guitar and drums. The looked thoroughly bored, and with no visual plays or interesting stage setups, watching them quickly turned painful.
A further distraction was the erratic song transitions. Each song ended as expected, but with an awkward, unwelcome and unnecessary jolt into silence inserted before the next fired up. This was especially frustrating because the Junior Boys’ music so seamlessly blends together on their albums. Musicwise, the live versions of my favorite songs were depressing letdowns. The vocals felt flat compared to the studio versions and the instrumentation was empty and bare. The creativity that I hear in the Junior Boys’ recorded material was completely absent from the live performance. Nothing was augmented, nothing was sparkling and shiny. For a group whose music has plenty of room for extra layers of playful tweaks, I found this unacceptable.
I walked into the El Rey Theatre full of excitement and joy for the evening, but as I left, my head hung low. I fired up a cigarette and strolled down the street, feeling empty, with a sour taste in my mouth. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so disappointed in a live show. Thankfully, I’m still able to enjoy the band’s albums, but it’s just sad to think that after finally seeing one of my favorite bands live, the Junior Boys are, in my eyes, little more than a studio group.
2 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
Eeesh..
That sucks you didn’t like it. Some friends of mine went and said it was AMAZING. One of them described it to be as good as when he saw Hot Chip for the first time and i started to feel bad for not going.
After reading this I feel a little better
They rocked when the played Pitchfork a few years ago. It was way less subtle than the records, which I kinda liked. People were dancing like crazy.