Posts Tagged “balkan folk”

Apr 16 2008

Beirut 2007-10-09, Herbst Theatre

Posted by: dave in concert, tags: balkan folk, Beirut, Herbst Theatre, zach condon

This was my favorite show of 2007, without a doubt. There’s really no description I can muster that does it any justice at all. Beirut’s albums may be done primarily by Zach Condon on his own, but the live shows are chock full of other people. Where a lot of artists might employ backing tracks of some sorts, loops, or other gimmicks to make the album sound in a live setting, Beirut is a fully live and stage-packed show.

I was completely blown away. It’s like the band geeks in college or high school were given free reign to make something really amazing. Someone handed them a box full of stuff, told them to go nuts and have a blast on stage and that’s the vibe I got the entire time. 5-6 people on stage at any given time playing multiple instruments each, sometimes in the same song… and Zach even played his own instruments as well. And singing. It’s beyond anything I’d expected. Beirut’s music is fairly unique in the first place, and it’s never easy to describe to anyone. Eastern European folk mixed with a whole lot of contemporary elements? I don’t know, it’s never been easy to put them into any category. Their show was no exception to say the least. To top it all off, the Herbst Theatre is an amazing venue with great acoustics. The sound was fantastic and might be the best recording I’ve ever made. However, I’ll let you decide that of course.

setlist: