Guided By Voices @ McCarren Park, June 18th, 2011
Photo by
Sam Kieldsen; Review by Anjelica LaFurno
Just a few hours ago I was guided by a voice to a state of musical bliss. Robert Pollard has this gift of converting a bustling, sweaty crowd to believe in a higher spirit: the sound of Guided By Voices. I’ve always been a fan of GBV and their lo-fi genius, but seeing them live has made it incredibly clear to me how great this assemblage of Dayton misfits really are. I unfortunately missed their show at Terminal 5 earlier this year in November, so you could only imagine my excitement at the opportunity of seeing GBV’s classic lineup at McCarren Park on Saturday, June 18. GBV headlined for the Northside Festival (as well as Beirut on the previous Friday) and were supported by The Babies, Surfer Blood, and the always-wavy Wavves. I’ve seen my fair share of lo-fi bands and usually this entails a live show that, well, sounds just as mediocre as the recorded audio, yet Guided By Voices somehow manage to make their low quality sound transform into something more than just lo-fi… something spiritual.
Pollard walked onto the stage as the crowd chanted “
GBV! GBV!” with a bottle of Hennessy in hand and then began to explain that if is his microphone was not taped he would knock someone in the head while swinging it. The casualness of his onstage commentary throughout the show is parallel to the aesthetic of GBV’s music and image, which was greatly appreciated by the crowd. There is nothing cooler for the concertgoer than feeling a genuine connection with the musical act, breaking down the invisible barrier that usually exists between the two. The show was chock full of Pollard’s stage kicks and continuous sips of Miller Lite while the crowd moshed and sang along.
I found it interesting how each member’s style was immensely different like they all came from a separate era of rock and genre. Bassist Greg Demos leather vest and ruffles shirt specifically amused me. I mean, c’mon a leather vest, so cool and not cool all at once. But let me get back to the music--the set list consisted mostly of music from
Bee Thousand (“Always Crush Me”, “Tractor Rape Chain”, “Gold Star for Robot Boy”), but also
Alien Lanes,
Vampire on Titus, and
Propeller (the last song of the night was from this album- “Weed King”) as well. The beauty of GBV live is there is a wide range of songs that can be played, like anything is possible because they’ve recorded such a large catalogue of music over the years.
