Concert Review: Blonde Redhead “Own” Le Poisson Rouge
So often when we say, “I want to be her when I grow up”, we attribute it to age. Yet, I attribute it to confidence. When I say I want to be like someone it means I want to carry and own my being without doubts, depressions, or any sort of downplay. Blonde Redhead entered Le Poisson Rouge with complete ownership of themselves as artists, and it drove the crowd wild.
Not too many times do you enter a concert enthralled by every band member on the stage, but Blonde Redhead was like seeing a comet strike the stage. Kazu Makino, Simone Pace, and Amedeo Pace encompassed every ounce of uniqueness and adrenaline that can be mustered when space collides with earth. Playing songs from their record Misery is a Butterfly the night felt like a fantastic time warp/ highlight to one of the best records EVER! “Misery Is A Butterfly” is literally a box of angst and wonder gift-wrapped in silver. It is the soundtrack for every creative being who feels their art/spirit is not flying like the “butterfly” that it is. Hearing this album’s prominence and continuous relevance is a testament to the timelessness of Blonde Redhead, and how they have majestically cornered the market of human frustrations.
Melody
I am always marveling at the basic topic of music: love. Self-love, relationship love, parental love, career love, money love, or general love prove the point of life, and thus music, is founded in this virtue. Yet, the point of the artist is to discover the many layers of love and present it as if something that is as eternal as music and virtue was just born and handed to the listener in their song. Blonde Redhead did that in their Le Poisson Rouge performance by playing their music with adoration for the crowd, their songs, and the sheer opportunity to be a musician. Not one instant was left without a sense of octane and admiration for music as an art form, and playing from “Misery Is A Butterfly” made the audience feel like life had given a giant hug of light to one’s darkness. I recently reviewed their compilation album, Masculine/ Feminime, as the grandest accumulation of their dream pop/ experimental rock and a conceptive explanation as to why so many artists like, SonicYouth, have cited Blonde Redhead for inspiration. It is rare that an artist and their music tap into the human soul so clearly and unfiltered that their music literally become its own spirt, but at Le Poisson Rouge, Blonde Redhead summoned pure energy onto the stage and gave the crowd a performance that made them dream. As many closed their eyes and let the music take them, I could not stop my amazement with the lovely Kazu Makino.
The One I Love
I want to be Kazu Makino when I grow up or rather shed away all insecurities. I want to walk onto a stage, a room, or life, itself, with a boldness and wisdom that leaves others in awe. She sings with a meekness that allows her wistful high notes to be sweetened with lowliness and expose the miseries that revert butterflies into their cocoons. She performs like she is an angel trying to soar to Heaven but has a wing caught on earth, and thus she either spreads her voice and energy like a soaring fie-cracker or writhes in her lyrical pains and secrets. She emanates every lyric with honesty, which Blonde Redhead is known for. Having so much innovation in their sound is a sign of their truthfulness as they have never tried to aim to sound like anyone else but themselves. Their music is like a mosh of grunge, gritty sound-clouds looming over the crowds’ heads and Makino’s voice is the songbird gracefully flying through it. Blonde Redhead’s performance gave everyone the feeling that they will never stop being ageless creatives trying to figure out how to show their personal edge in their musical style. For More Information On Blonde Redhead Click Here.
