I first caught wind of
Other Lives when I saw them open for Radiohead in 2012. They were one of
the best opening acts I've ever seen, and when I bought their
then-latest album Tamer Animals, I was not disappointed.
Somehow I'd missed that they just put out a new album in May of this
year, but I did at least hear about this show.
Artist: Other Lives
Venue: Mohawk (outside)
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: 11 June 2015
Opening Acts: Riothorse
Royale, Dark Rooms
Setlist:
01. Reconfiguration
02. Easy Way Out
03. As I Lay My Head Down
04. Landforms →
05. Desert
06. 2 Pyramids
07. Pattern
08. For 12
09. Tamer Animals
10. English Summer
11. Dark Horse
12. Weather
13. For the Last
01. Reconfiguration
02. Easy Way Out
03. As I Lay My Head Down
04. Landforms →
05. Desert
06. 2 Pyramids
07. Pattern
08. For 12
09. Tamer Animals
10. English Summer
11. Dark Horse
12. Weather
13. For the Last
Encore:
14. Black Tables (performed as a duo)
15. Great Sky (?)
16. Dust Bowl III
14. Black Tables (performed as a duo)
15. Great Sky (?)
16. Dust Bowl III
The first band of the
night was Dark Rooms from Dallas, the latest project of
guitarist/violinist/vocalist Daniel Hart. His instrumentation and
occasional looping (as well as appearance) might give rise to
comparisons to Andrew Bird, but the comparison doesn't really hold up
past that. In place of Bird's folk and classicism was a darker,
denser, percussive style. With the help of a guitarist, a drummer,
and a keyboardist/percussionist, they generated a very full and
nuanced sound. When they first began, I was concerned by seeing both
guitarists playing the same thing for most of the first song.
Thankfully, that did not occur again and the show only got better.
Hart also contributed occasional samples to the mix, although these
were not always very successful. His looping and clever effects on
his violin and guitar were consistently great, though, and it was
easy to get lost in the haze of this band.
[Dark Rooms.]
Riothorse Royale is the
project of Madi Diaz and Emily Greene, a guitarist and a bassist
(although I'm not sure which is which!), both of whom sing on most of
their songs. They were joined by drummer Danny Reisch, a notable
producer of and contributor to many bands in the Austin scene. Their
music was instrumentally simple but used to great effect. The beats
were basic, the rhythms uncomplicated, and the guitar and bass parts
to the point, but they had a good set of effects, and the vocals were
excellent. Just about every song featured both vocalists either in
harmony or overlapping their parts. The music had a dark, ethereal,
post-punk vibe that was almost reminiscent of Warpaint,
but the vocals were what took it to another level.
[Riothorse Royale.]
When I last saw Other
Lives in 2012, they operated as five-member core with an extra
touring musician (who may have been Daniel Hart!). In the
meantime, two of their members decamped, leaving the other three to
carry on as a trio with guests. On stage, they appeared with two
familiar faces: violinist/guitarist/vocalist Hart, who had just
played a set as Dark Rooms, and drummer Danny Reisch, who had just
done a set with Riothorse Royale. I thought this sharing of members
was quite a special treat; it reminded me of when The Cure toured with Siouxsie & the Banshees and Robert Smith served as
both frontman of the former and guitarist for the latter.
[Other Lives. Note the lightbulbs!]
Other Lives have just
released a new album, Rituals, which I hadn't heard before the
show. (This is why there is an element of guesswork in my setlist.)
They split the set in large part between the new album and their last
one, Tamer Animals. While the older songs were more familiar
to me and thus more immediately enjoyable, I found the newer material
right in line, albeit perhaps more diverse and rhythmically complex,
which are certainly welcome changes. There were truly no
disappointments: the band performed all the best tracks of Tamer
Animals (almost the entire thing!) and about half the new album.
Instrumentally, the
band is all over the place. They combine rock basics (guitar, bass,
drums) with elements of folk, classical, and electronica (violin,
trumpet, multiple keyboards, vibraphone, various forms of
percussion). Everyone except the drummer were talented
multi-instrumentalists; sometimes the members even switched
instruments mid-song. Jesse Tabish provided all the lead vocals, but
Hart and Josh Onstott also provided many additional vocal parts. In
fact, I noticed Hart singing many parts that I would have otherwise
thought were keyboards or string parts. Tamer Animals is full
of a dense web of instruments and vocals, often difficult to
distinguish, but several parts that I had always thought were
instrumental were done live with Hart's voice!
Their set was
beautiful, melodic, well performed, entrancing, and (to use the word
again) ethereal. They have a way of quickly building a song into a
unique space and filling it such that when it's over it feels like it
was an epic. Most of their songs are actually on the short side, yet
they feel long, as if there is more contained in them than there was
time for. When the show was over, I couldn't believe only 75 minutes
or so had passed – it felt like they'd fit so much more than that
in. It's a real skill to be able to make an experience seem like
there was even more there than there was.
[Other Lives playing their final notes of the night.]
Scores:
Dark Rooms: A-
Riothorse Royale: B
Other Lives: A
