Concert Review: Shearwater @ The Great American Music Hall

First of all, what a great venue (Great American Music Hall). The sound was good, the walls were warm and classically decorated. I didn't try the food, but it looked pretty good as well. And of course, every show is All-Ages, which I just LOVE, because music should be accessible to everyone, god damn it.

Shearwater. Wow. They are certainly something. These guys clearly set out on a mission to make the most unique, indescribable and transient music they could think up. The instrumentation is like a tutorial of instruments that don't belong in a rock band: waterphone, melodica, banjo, glockenspiel, clarinet, trumpet, electric upright bass and even vibraphone. It's insane. Front man, Jonathan Meiburg, has the intensity of both Davids Byrne and Bowie, as well as the chizzled, Elizabethan jawline, and minstrel haircut, of Donavan. His intensity is balanced by the somewhat creepy, complacent smile of bassist, Kimberly Burke and the gentle, bear-like cuddliness of drummer, Thor Harris. (Of COURSE his name is Thor.)

If you're looking for a show that makes you think, then see Shearwater. Every time you start to groove out and lose yourself a bit, they do something that makes your brow furrow and your head tilt to the side, as if something were sort of out of place, or disjointed, but lovely somehow. It's like a canary singing baritone, or a turtle doing yoga.

(Jesus. Look what they've done to me. Get critical, Rachel!) Ok, so I have to admit, the words "pretentious" and "gimmicky" DID float through my mind more than once while watching this spectacle. But how much better would the world be if those were my main criticisms of every band I saw? I'd rather a band show me something new and sincere at the risk of being a tad over-the-top than just drum up the same formulaic faux-emotional, nuvo-rock crap that seems to be drenching the radio waves these days.

Shearwater recently toured with Coldplay, and I have to say they put Colplay to shame in terms of originality, emotional involvement and musical complexity. Joined by similarly unique opening acts, Neal Morgan and Wye Oak, these guys are all leading a revolution reject the verse-chorus binary. And though I'm not ready to be a card-carrying member of the cause just yet, I see where they're coming from.