Ra Ra Riot is a hard band to photograph. You have to have a pretty good camera and actually have some skills as a photographer to capture them. Why the difficulty? Well, Ra Ra Riot is always on the move. There is six of them: vocals and keyboards (Wesley), guitar (Milo), bass (Mathieu), drums (Cameron), cello (Alexandra), and violin (Rebecca). But this is no chamber pop sextet, like they are so often portrayed. No, Ra Ra Riot is like a Mentos thrown into a bottle of Diet Coke. They are an explosion of energy, of limbs flailing, and instruments colliding. Think band-in-a-blender wild exuberance of Minor Threat combined with the instrumentation and ernest enthusiasm of the Arcade Fire with a solid dose of the melodic nature of the Police.
I'm trying to describe the band and I feel like I'm failing. Ra Ra Riot is one of those bands that is greater than the sum of it's parts, greater than it's recordings (thus far) and a band that needs to be experienced.
I've been trying to figure out, what was the best live show I ever saw. Was it the Arcade Fire back in May or was it Ra Ra Riot last night at the Bowery. I think it's Ra Ra Riot and here is why. The Arcade Fire was a incredible band giving a good show. But they could roll out of bed on a cold Canadian winter morning and give a show that good. That's not to take away from them, that's actually a compliment. But Ra Ra Riot last night was a good band giving the performance of their lives, a good band giving an incredible show. The band knew it. The crowd knew it. The crowd was causing the band to escalate and the band returned the favor and caused the crowd to escalate and the whole night everybody in the Bowery Ballroom just spiraled upwards, out of control.
This was the 4th time I've seen Ra Ra Riot live. I first heard their music courtesy of somebody from Syracuse, where the band formed at college. This was back about a year ago, in April of '07. I thought they were okay. They only had an EP out and while it was interesting, had a Arcade Fire meets the Police vibe to it, I didn't obsess over it or anything. Later that summer, in June, they headlined a show at the wonderful South Street Seaport Festival. By this point I was starting to really enjoy their EP and hey, free show in the city. So I went with the girlfriend, sister, and her friend. None of us really knew the band at all outside of a song or two. We were all blown away. We all proceeded to become completely obsessed with the band. So much so that the girlfriend, another friend and I drove all the way to Boston to see them at the Friends of John Benefit concert in the middle of a blizzard. Disappointingly, they kind of sucked. They were lifeless and boring.
I saw them again, a month later, on a whim, opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They were really good. Not as great as they were at Seaport but still damn good.
But then last night. Wow. Like I said earlier, I'm still searching for words to describe them. Probably the best show I've ever seen.
I would be remiss if I didn't go into some of Ra Ra's songs. So without further ado:
- A Manner To Act: a two minute blast of swirling strings and skronky guitar before it all collapses in on itself
- Can You Tell - a sweet Police-esque number
- Dying Is Fine - Tragically relevant yet ultimately triumphant with a middle jam session reminiscent of Modest Mouse.
- Suspended in Gaffa and Hounds of Love - The two covers they perform, both by Kate Bush, both work wonderfully with the Ra Ra's strings.
- Too Too Too Fast - This song should have been on the Donnie Darko soundtrack. It sounds like something you'd hear on one of the multitudes of the Best of the 1980s! cd's they used to hawk on tv all the time. It's like a great lost song by a-ha or Tears For Fears. It has such a good 80's vibe that for the longest time I thought it was a cover. Hell, maybe it is a cover.
What I think I love about Ra Ra Riot is how they use their string section. Stings are not uncommon, especially in adventurous indie rock (thanks a lot Sufjan). But most bands use strings as an after thought, an arrangement, a finishing touch. Not so with Ra Ra Riot. Not only are the strings integral to the songs themselves, they're often the lead instrument. Not many bands write riffs for a cello or violin and not too many bands have the hooks of their songs played by strings. Pop music? Yes (Toxic, anyone?). Indie rock? No. But not only are the strings integral to the songs but Ra Ra Riot doesn't forget the first rule of rock like so many other bands, namely, don't forget to rock. So there are strings but the songs bounce along with a punk urgency.
So I guess I've pretty much exhausted my feelings on Ra Ra Riot. I'll leave by beseeching you to check these guys out. They may not be my favorite band right now (The National) but they're my favorite new band and when they actually release an album, they could very well overtake the National for that top spot.
Here are the links to some video I shot at the Bowery Ballroom last night:
Here is a link to an mp3 of A Manner To Act: Download
Here is the link to a recent live show on WOXY that's very good: Link
Coming Soon: Pictures from last night
1 comment:
Actually your word pix are quite vivid - Mentos in a Diet Coke and band in a blender - well done!
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