Last night was my first time at Le Poisson Rouge, and it was a great experience all around. It’s a small intimate venue with pretty good lighting and sound. No matter where you are you have a good view, which is a telling sign of a worthy venue. It also helped that they had Wild Beasts playing.
Marques Toliver opened promptly at 7:30 enchanting the small but attentive audience with his unique sound. His main go to instrument was the violin which he plucked and played while singing – creating a beautiful sound. His soulful voice put on top of the violin did wonders. I’m surprised that Marques hasn’t blown up yet. But after witnessing the crowd begging him to play an encore (as the opener), I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be headed to bigger and better things very shortly. For more on Marques, visit him on facebook or follow him on twitter.
My obsession with Wild Beasts (regretfully) only started earlier this year. This band has risen as one of my favorites in a short span. This love affair started after for finally discovering their amazing 2009 album, Two Dancers, which I slept on until earlier this year. Their newest LP, Smother, has been one of my favorite albums of 2011, and it’s safe to call the Beasts one of my favorite acts at the moment. All this love came without seeing the band live. Imagine how I feel now. My friend James joined me last night even though wasn’t really familiar with the band as whole. He still took me up on my offer to see the band, and said that he was blown away as well.
The set was loyal to Smother, but all of Two Dancers standouts were included, and the crowd lost it during each and everyone of them (“This Is Our Lot”, “We Still Got the Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues”, “Hooting and Howling”, “All The King’s Men”) along with the very colorful “The Devil’s Crayon” from their first album, Limbo, Panto. The band has yet to fully explode stateside, but the fans that they do have are extremely loyal. The crowd cheered ecstatically as each song began, sang every word back to the band, and gave the band a warm round of applause after each song – causing the band to practically blush in thanks. Wild Beasts have a very loyal fan base who aren’t afraid to give it all while the band is playing. It’s only fair – the band gave us quite the show. They ended things with the cinematic closer “End Come Too Soon” which had an ecstasy filled build up that was beyond awe inspiring.
The duel vocals of Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming are what makes the band so great. Live, the voices are devastatingly good. I couldn’t help but think how unfair it was for a band to be loaded with both of these powerful vocalists. The rest of the band packed a punch live, with most of the songs catering to a bass heavy dance edge that takes over their live show – something that you may or not notice on their recordings.
Setlist & Marques Toliver photos after the jump:
Setlist:
Plaything
Loop the Loop
Deeper
The Devil’s Crayon
We Still Got the Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues
Albatross
This Is Our Lot
Bed of Nails
Reach a Bit Further
Hooting and Howling
Encore:
Lion’s Share
All the King’s Men
End Come Too Soon
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