Kishi Bashi and the Barr Brothers Captivated (le) Poisson Rouge [photos]

Photo credit: Sean Wehrli

A string of bare lightbulbs coiled around the cluttered stage at (le) poisson rouge on Wednesday night. They were part of several devices artfully illuminated throughout The Barr Brothers’ (@thebarrbrothers) set, enhancing the luster of this radiant band.

The quartet opened by standing in shadows cast by golden footlights, strumming with an austerity that resembled an orchestra tuning up before melting into the glittering song “Old Mythologies”.  The lights emphasized the ominous tones in their sound, an effect that was both contrasted and augmented throughout their hour-long set by spotlights, in moody shades of blue, blasts of strobe lights and the swelling of the lightbulbs to punctuate the percussion.

The band’s music is introspective, reflecting their own nature as performers. Brad Barr is the personality of the band; neither his brother, Andrew, nor Andres Vial or Sarah Page ever say a word on stage, nor do they need to.  Their quiet concentration is easygoing, without any touch of conceit, and the level of experimentation in their sound is thrilling.

With Brad on guitar, Andres on bass and Sarah on harp, Andrew is left to toil away on everything else. About half-way through this set, he turned to a bicycle wheel that was stationed above his drumset. Yes, a bicycle wheel. Running a bow around the perimeter and hammering away at the inside spokes with a drumstick, he procured sounds like a machine malfunctioning. This episode of unconventional instrumentation bled, as it typically does, into the rowdy “Give The Devil Back His Heart”.

The band performed two unrecorded songs, huddled around a single microphone and joined by Kaoro Ishibashi of solo opening act Kishi Bishi (@kishi_bashi). Ishibashi’s gentle violin complimented the acoustic guitars and mandolin on the ode “Darkness Has Arms”; he was then left to improvise the opening of the next song, vamping until Brad returned to the stage with his trademark spool of thread. With the thread strung through his guitar, Andrew and Sarah teased the ends as they all chanted in three-part harmony “please let me let it go”.  This hymn-like song is rarely performed live (there aren’t even videos of it online), but it’s honest simplicity drowns out everything else, stirring spirits and pulling at heartstrings.

Kishi Bishi, in his opening set, had delivered his own brand of stirring sounds, driven by layered loops of violin lines and vocal melodies. He was at ease negotiating between two microphones, his violin and various electronic controls, and unhurried in his soft-spoken comments between songs. With his hair in a spiky mohawk and a bow-tie around his neck, he contrasted his sweet falsetto with grooving beatbox breaks, and the impassioned power behind his voice was thrilling when released on songs like “Manchester”. When not singing, he poured his heart into his violin, closing his eyes with a contented smile spreading across his face. His richly textured sound was quieter in the space than on his newly released album, requiring more focus from the audience. “You guys are good listeners,” he remarked, “or else there’s absolutely nobody in this room.”

The room, in fact, was packed; the audience captivated. Frenzy broke out when it seemed uncertain if The Barr Brothers would return for an encore (they did). “We were going to come back anyway,” Brad said simply, “You didn’t have to do that — go all crazy.” At the end, as the crazy fanfare continued, they stood shoulder to shoulder and took a single, solemn bow, nodding their heads and touching their hearts, radiating gratitude.