Here We Go Magic, Grizzly Bear/ Trocadero

Naturally when Brooklyn decides to migrate to Philly for a glorious evening of music, I follow them in the least stalkerish way possible.


With lack of better judgment or a watch, I got to the Troc way too early (and that was after I poked a salted jellyfish in a Chinese market and tried to sneak into an Asian temple). But there’s no temple like Luke Temple and there isn’t quite anything like the pairing of Here We Go Magic and Grizzly Bear.

Photo: Thomas J. Hartnett

Recorded, HWGM sparkles with a bit of ambivalent innocence, which may rightfully be referred to as genius. They skip between tunes akin with Temple’s solo poppy-folk material and tunes that are mysteriously coated with layers of experimental flair. Perhaps the backdrop of glittery dangling icicles added to the magical aura of the performance, but they put on a pretty good show. Unlike their recorded tracks, they play around with dynamics much better- often starting simple and tame and slowly billowing into monumental sonic chaos. They are far less static with their live productions, which is great! But they haven’t quite figured out how to translate the thrilling experimental intricacies that you hear on the record. The beautiful “Tunnelvision” seemed a bit watered down, the building sea of electronic jangles at the end of “Fangela” never emerged, and “I Just Want to See You Underwater,” well… they didn’t even attempt to play that one. “Fangela” definitely got the crowd going though—no one could resist clapping—and I don’t blame them!

Photo: Thomas J. Hartnett

Here are the Grizzly highlights….

1. Those darn icicles… whoever had that idea was brilliant!
2. The setlist was a decent combination of some old and mostly new-

Southern Point
Cheerleader
Little Brother
Knife
Two Weeks (with special guest Victoria Legrand from Beach House)
Fine For Now
Ready, Able
Shift
I Live With You
Fix It
While You Wait For the Others
On a Neck, On a Spit
Encore: COLORADO

3. After Southern Point, Ed realized he didn’t check his guitar—they had to stop playing for a good 10 minutes— which was filled with non-stop adulation of philly and talk of the weather. I like weather.
4. Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen oddly complement one another- and with their vocals combined they can save the planet
5. I am still not completely convinced that Rossen sounds like the rabbit from Winny the Pooh
6. The drums were so much more experimental and vibrant- not what I expected truthfully, but a pleasant surprise
7. Droste's shirt said "Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever..." Yes indeed.
8. Where did Chris Taylor go? Oh look, he’s down there toying with loop pedals, and the clarinet, and the flute, while whistling, and singing… all at the same time.
9. It was a close tie between Alligator and Colorado for the encore. They are so smart.
10. I would draw a parallel between the show and stuffing your face with 50 fried Oreos. The likelihood of having a heart attack is pretty much inevitable.