After the unfortunate cancellation of Sound on Sound Fest, the bookers of the festival worked to get as many of the artists scheduled to play into venues around Austin during the original festival dates. Currently touring in support of their excellent new LP, Painted Ruins (REVIEW), SOS fest was originally slated to be the only Texas date for Grizzly Bear. In a twist of fate for Texas fans, however, the festival cancellation allowed them to be rescheduled in both Austin and Dallas over the weekend. Friday, November 10th found the Brooklyn band playing a career spanning set to a sold out audience at The Moody Theater in Austin.
After taking the stage, staccato keyboard notes announced the beginning of “Four Cypresses” from their newest album as those in the crowd either stared in awe or started dancing and singing along. After playing another new song, “Losing All Sense”, the band launched into some of their older material. Songs from their breakout album, Veckatimest, like “Fine for Now” and “Foreground” found many in the audience singing aloud. Longtime fans of the band were treated to some truly dynamic performances from Yellow House in the forms of “Knife”, “Colorado” and “On a Neck, On a Spit”. Unsurprisingly, the entire audience sang along to “Two Weeks, and it was also nice to see equal adulation given to new songs like “Neighbors” and “Mourning Sound”. The band was in excellent spirits throughout the night, continuously assuring the audience how glad they were to still be able to be in Austin despite the festival cancellation.
Seeing Grizzly Bear live transcends listening to their beautifully crafted albums. Though their recorded material is at times breathtaking to listen to, it is only when watching the band perform that you can fully appreciate the mastery that each member of the band has for their craft. Flawless vocal harmonies combine with impossible sounding drum beats and arpeggio guitars to create lush soundscapes. This contributed to the fact that mostly everyone in the audience preferred to be quiet and listen rather than chat with their friends, which is a widespread problem with Austin audiences as the sheer amount of live shows available tends to spoil jaded Austin residents. That Grizzly Bear was able to captivate so completely is a testament to their music, and Texas fans can hope that it won’t be another five years before they make it back.
