An Update from PA

You might think that seeing The Morning Benders with Grizzly Bear would be a very repetitive concert. And you would be wrong, as I was. While Chris Taylor (the bassist of Grizzly Bear) produced the Morning Benders’ Big Echo, and while that album definitely gives a Grizzly Bear vibe, the live show reveals all the intricacies that Chris couldn’t possibly have taught them.

The trip to Carlisle was one met with much anticipation, since I was aware (unlike much of the general public) that Grizzly Bear would be playing since March. However, it wasn’t until this past week that I found out that The Morning Benders would be there as well. A pleasant surprise, but nothing to get too excited about, I thought. Yes, I love Big Echo, but it really hadn’t clicked with me, and sounded almost too much like Grizzly Bear at times. For $10, I couldn’t really complain, and it’s always good to see someone live. I was clearly unprepared for the awesomeness. Opening with “Stitches,” The Morning Benders showed me one of my new favorite tracks from the album (my favorite being “Cold War”). The crowd responded really well, as did my friends Alan and Kyle – they had never heard The Morning Benders, and their socks were blown clear off. Chris Chu, the lead singer/guitarist, seemed almost as surprised by our response to his music as I was by the different light his band shed on it.

As the band continued to play song after song off of Big Echo I realized the album for what it was. No longer did it seem like a Grizzly Bear derivative with elements of Beach House, Animal Collective, and the Shins thrown in. No longer did I put off the album as kind of cool, but still not quite what I wanted. As soon as the show was over, I went over to the merch table and purchased a vinyl and a shirt, and I couldn’t be happier. Just to make sure that I wasn’t simply caught up in the moment of the show, I sponged out on my living room carpet and put on the vinyl today. I can say with absolute certainty that my opinion of the album has definitely changed; my hat is off to you, Morning Benders.

Grizzly Bear was absolutely amazing as well. Simply being only ten feet from the likes of Ed Droste, Chris Taylor and Chris Bear, and Dan Rossen… just wow. It was enough for me that they played “Foreground” (my fave!), but on top of that everything was just amazing. My only regret is not brushing up on Horn of Plenty and Yellow House! I recognized songs from the older albums, but felt slightly out of the loop. Still, Grizzly Bear were truly phenomenal. As I was talking after the show with Tim, the bassist from the Morning Benders, he told me that Grizzly Bear follows each performance with a grueling critique of their own work. If that’s not perfection in the making, I don’t know what is.

Tags: Grizzly Bear, morning benders

This entry was posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 1:51 PM and is filed under Concerts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.