Fillmore's Biggest Coverup

As see on www.phillyist.com

Let's start with Jesca Hoops. From what we briefly heard and read on her MySpace page, she sounded like an interesting singer/songwriter that should be supported. We even told you to get to The Polyphonic Spree's concert early to check out her out. After a very stern give-your-undivided-attention speech by The Polyphonic Spree's frontman, Tim DeLaughter, Hoops came on with her sparkly shirt-dress and acoustic guitar.

After what seemed like an eternity she finally finished her truly whacked-out set. She sang about umbilical cords, loving her mommy, and who the hell knows what else. I was too enraptured with my cell phone game to care. Concert etiquette would assume that my cell phone would be tucked away in my pocket, but etiquette was flushed down the drain after Hoops literally shushed the audience. "Shh.....shh.... Shh...is my favorite word." What? Who shushes any audience at a rock show? WTF? Clearly, she was on something.

Thankfully, The Polyphonic Spree made their grand entrance after playing a recorded 60s peace-inspiring rock song. Interesting, but uninspiring. After literally cutting through the red curtain that spanned the stage, the Spree finally appeared in all their glory. All twenty-four members tucked away in various nooks and crannies on the stage. DeLaughter was ready to rock!

Each new song gave way to audience participation, big swooning choruses and an overall group music-making experience. The charisma and energy of the band quickly enticed me to jump up and down and lose my voice as I violently screamed for more. The seven-member all-girl chorus was rocking out in the back while the two percussionists were driving the rhythm. There were three brass players located in the front, several string instrumentalist behind them and two pianists (one using an Mac for recorded sounds). Their music was meant for the live audience and they definitely knew how to put on a show.

After the performance, I started to realize a few things. I don't ever remember hearing the seven chorus members very well. There are seven of them - you should be able to hear them. The only times that you did was when DeLaughter wasn't singing, and at those times, they were singing in unison. What a waste of talent, space and singers. The vocal harmonies and textures that could have been intertwined into Spree's music is exponential. Why they didn't use this to their advantage is beyond me. It seems they were there to just be a part of the "show."

Then after thinking about the vocals I started to think of the other instruments. The percussion, guitars, and brass were the only instruments I could consistently hear. The others were drowned out by the massive amount of sound coming from the stage. At one point during the concer,t I realized there was cello on the stage and then I never heard it again. That could have easily been created by an electronic keyboard and no one would have known the difference.

The Arcade Fire used ten instruments in their recent concert. All ten instruments were heard consistently throughout the performance. Their sound was bigger and better with fewer instruments than the Spree's overall sound. Is it necessary to have all those instrumentalists and vocalists on stage or is it all just an act? I would have to side with the latter. With that many instruments, Spree could perform very complex and varied music, but what happens is that most instruments (including vocals) just play the melody to create a loud, very exciting sound. Something that in retrospect is fun, but turns out to be mostly unfulfilling.

Video taken by author. For pictures please go here.