BAM BAM

I'm a big fan of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. So much always going on, and a mere 10 minute walk from my apartment make it one of my favorite places to see a show, movie, cultural event, etc.

This past week I made 2 separate treks to BAM to check out Thursday nights Bell Orchestre/Clogs show and Saturdays Final Fantasy/Grizzly Bear show, both nights accompanied by the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

While I've never listened to Bell Orchestre or Clogs before, I do love both Arcade Fire and the National, of whom both groups share members. The show was done in a sort of "in the round" style, with Bell Orchestre, Clogs and the Brooklyn Phil taking turns performing. You could hear the slow build to borderline spastic freakout of Arcade Fire in Bell Orchestre's pieces, while Clogs definitely had the stateliness of the National. Sufjan Stevens and Shara Worden aka My Brightest Diamond guested with Clogs, and I also ran in to Shore Fire friend Holly Schomann from Sirius XM.

Saturday night was a packed house for the highly anticipated Final Fantasy/Grizzly Bear show, and Shore Fire's own Nora Lyons was also in attendance. Final Fantasy opened, and according to FF mastermind Owen Pallett it was an "exercise in trust" to hand over the reigns to the Brooklyn Phil, as he usually performs solo with just his violin and computer looping different parts together.

Grizzly Bear arrived to rapturous applause and did not disappoint. They played songs old and new, working with the Brooklyn Phil on many tracks, but also performing a few songs as their usual four piece. Personal favorites "Colorado" and "Little Brother" were worth the price of admission for me, and encore closing cover of "He Hit Me" ended the night on a haunting note (and I swear that song is one hundred times creepier live).

All in all a great night. If you squint at the crappy iPhone photo below you can sort of see Grizzly Bear after their first song, but there are much better photos and reviews of both nights on the old interwebs.