Grizzly Bear at the Metro

Grizzly Bear with Beach House, The Metro, Chicago, IL 9/27/09
By Trevor Geiger

It has been a remarkable journey for the members of Grizzly Bear over the past three years. Since releasing their second album, "Yellow House," to critical acclaim in 2006, the indie-rock heroes have gone from virtually unknown to sharing stages with some of the biggest acts in the business including Radiohead, Paul Simon, Feist, and TV on the Radio.

Their latest album, "Veckatimest" (Warp, 2009), sold over 33,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 8 on the album chart despite having been leaked on the Internet much earlier. Just recently, famous couple Jay-Z and Beyonce were seen rocking out at a free concert of theirs in New York City.

But as they took the stage at the Metro Sunday night, Grizzly Bear seemed unaffected by all the hype. The four young men that walked on were quiet, humble, and a bit awkward to watch... until they started playing. As the first notes of "Southern Point" sounded, the soft-spoken band members transformed into a single ferocious live being; beautiful vocals pouring out from one, then another, then overpoweringly from all four members. And their name gained new meaning.

I had seen the band play earlier in the day at a taping for an NPR radio show. At that performance the band was stripped down, using only a single acoustic guitar, a single tom, a bass clarinet (surprising cool), and their angelic vocal harmonies. It was a stirring early morning performance; the boys' voices carried the songs and proved the strength of their material.

But that night at the Metro, you could tell that the band was in their element. Each member had his own musical station complete with an astounding array of effects pedals and multiple instruments (among them a Wurlitzer, a drum machine, two clarinets, a mini dulcimer, and a recorder).

Despite guitarist Daniel Rossen’s signature warble, Ed Droste stood out as the most extraordinary singer and the leader of the band. His voice was almost operatic, impressively under control, and wonderfully clear despite thick layers of reverb and delay. In contrast, Daniel’s tone was a quiet, gruff vibrato, the calm at the center of the storm.

Bassist Chris Taylor was that storm: a hurricane, a swirling mass of sound and manic energy. Often disappearing to the floor of the stage to create a looping effects-pedal haze, he was the sonic master of the show. On “Knife,” his high voice seemed to loop around you like a Doppler shift.

Finally, drummer Christopher Bear was the booming thunderclap that held the mass together. Solid in his playing and singing, his clear voice was often altered with wild effects rivaling those of Mr. Taylor.

As the band played through most of Veckatimest, it was easy to see why members of Radiohead have called Grizzly Bear a favorite of theirs. They are a musician’s band: talented, original, and experimental. Even the most accessible of their songs (“Two Weeks,” “While You Wait for the Others”) are challenging and emotionally rewarding.

The show was a big payoff, especially after seeing Grizzly Bear “lite” earlier in the day. The guys were tight and well rehearsed. They maintained an amazing amount of sonic power and clarity for a four-man group. The opener Beach House was a wild new-wavy group with a charismatic lead singer and a love of all things triangle. They were more than appropriate for an opener and did much to establish the mood of the evening. The mood was good.