Broken Bells and Au Revoir Simone Played Webster Hall [photos]

Photos by Jayson Yee

Broken bells played a superb show at Webster Hall Friday night along with Au Revoir Simone, who will open for them as they tour to celebrate the release of their new album, After the Disco. Although Broken bells is a collaborative project featuring two of the bigger names in indie and alternative music, the duo (The Shins singer/guitarist James Mercer and producer/multi-instrumentalist Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse) managed to keep their project relatively secretive for a pretty long time. Burton’s progression towards playing many more live instruments and Mercer’s broadened vocal style, which includes falsetto and a few deeper registers, though, are an exciting treat for us all. After roughly 5 years, they’ve developed into a wonderful four-piece live outfit with an elaborately visual stage set-up that works beautifully.

There was a very surreal feeling to Broken Bells’ stage, almost as though the audience was transported to another planet, and everyone really responded well to the spacey vibe. A hidden camera pointed at the audience from the stage, immediately capturing everyone’s attention shortly before their main entrance by projecting a live video/crowd reaction onto the huge backdrop. There was also a very fascinating chrome object sitting center stage, which lit up occasionally throughout the night and served as a very unique visual effect, bouncing light in all directions similar to a disco ball.

The sold-out affair was kicked off by dream-pop mavens Au Revoir Simone who set the mood perfectly as the crowd grew larger. The singer/keyboardist trio of Heather D’Angelo, Erika Foster, and Annie Hart work quite well together on stage and have some dance moves that had everyone up on the floor and enjoying the night. Overall, this is a great pair to work together on tour and a must see concert!

Broken Bells

Au Revoir Simone