Beulah
Bowery Ballroom, New York (October 6, 2001)
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Beulah
Bowery Ballroom, New York
October 6, 2001 |
Despite all that, I was bemoaning the chore-like nature of attending shows as I descended into the subway with one of my friends. But, about an hour later as we ascended the steps of the Bowery Ballroom, I became cheered by the sight of folks milling about the performance space. We came just in time to catch Mates of State, a poppy keyboard and drums duo featuring Kari Gardner and Jason Hammel. The instrumental lineup is a bit limiting for their song structures, but their enthusiasm and musicianship more than made up for it. Some male-female duos harmonize quietly, but these two truly belted it out, leading me to the assertion, "if there was someone with whom I could harmonize like that, I would surgically attach them to me and make a rule that we were only allowed to converse in harmonized singing." I think that statement seemed a lot cooler, and a bit less psycho, in the moment.
Still, though Mates of State was a pleasant surprise, I was there for Beulah, who soon emerged. By the sextet's second song, "If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I can Win Your Heart" from 1999's When Your Heartstrings Break (Sugar Free), the audience was singing along and every critical statement I had made about the redundancy of some of their songs was muted. Beulah was there to rock in their poppy way, Beulah was there to entertain.
And entertain they did, bringing a healthy dose of fun and immediacy to the head-bob-worthy "Gene Autry" and the crazy guitar-and-drum breaks of "Gravity's Bringing Us Down" (off of their latest, The Coast Is Never Clear [Velocette]). But when the band delved into their back catalogue, the true gems were unearthed. Bill Swan's trumpet work was as dynamic and engaging as the most proficient mariachi horn blower on tracks like "Matter vs. Space," and the band's overall band-ness -- its seemingly effortless unity -- was apparent throughout.
Beulah, apparently, likes to toy with the band-crowd dichotomy and encouraged folks to take to the stage. But most of the Indie kids, being too shy or cool, were unwilling to take the initiative until a request for "Maroon Bible" from Handsome Western States (Elephant 6, 1997) led Kurosky to say that the band wouldn't play until the request-maker came up on stage. A young woman, nervous and embarrassed, climbed up onto the stage, was handed a tambourine and preceded to rock out along with the group. Soon after, the "Hello Resolven"/ "A Good Man is Easy to Kill" medley found lead singer/guitarist Miles Kurosky introducing a young woman named Steph Berliner by saying that she started emailing him about a month ago asking to play flute with the band and adding, with a laugh, "See, anyone can be in Beulah!" Berliner masterfully covered the flute parts and garnered endless cheers from the crowd along with at least one yell of "band camp!"
I almost died of joy when Beulah, who had already been so fun and tight, turned to a cover of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" with Bill Swan doing the vocal duties and not embarrassing the genius that is David Byrne. The crowd sung and danced along to everything including the "aye aye aye ayes!"
As the set drew to a close, about 10 kids ascended the stage and were handed percussion instruments. The band burst into an uptempo version of "Lay Low For The Letdown" infusing the song with an energy that its original bedroom-style recording could never capture. And as Kurosky sang the bridge into the second chorus, the crowd joined in, fists pumping, "God damn the commies wherever they are / we need someone to blame for closing this bar!"
Another mental check mark made, I think now I can die a happy woman.
A.K. GOLD | A.K. Gold lives in Washington, D.C., where she slaves away for a non-profit organization and constantly compares everything to New York City or Chicago. She's earned her "cred" as a college radio and pre-1960 country music DJ, committed indie label street teamer, sporadic zinemaker/contributor, retired mail-order filler and occasional freelance writer. From time to time, she publishes Anecdotal Evidence, a per zine that will some day be considered for the National Book Award, or possibly not. If you want to buy a copy, or desire to write to her for some other reason, email criticgirl@hotmail.com.