Concert Review: Tune Yards Dance For The Disenfranchised In Brooklyn

Dance Music For The Disenfranchised! This is NOT a new concept, and from Hip Hop to Pop, music has created socio-political songs that place discord into literal, guitar chords. For Tune- Yards, electro-dance music was their opportunity to sow dissidence, and reap revolutions for the disenfranchised at Brooklyn Steel.

Opening with their track, “Home”, Tune-Yards’ concert could be surmised by this lyric “I came to get down, but you’re not telling my story, man.” Merrill Garbus promulgated this lyric while wagging her head like a bone of derangement. She repeated it until you felt wagged, as well, by the importance of this reason because that is what it is! We do not show up to so many “parties” because we know our story will not be told, and if our story is not told, our face goes unseen. Tune- Yards want to remove masks by blasting it with ukuleles, analogs, synths, and drum-beats that spume forward like water from a hose aimed at your fiery mind.
Tune-Yards – Heart Attack (Official Video)

Now more than ever, people feel unseen. From their public face, i.e. social media, to an anxious, more private one, Tune Yards’ have a created a concert that is baptismal in effect. “Now As Then”, “Powa”, “Colonizer”, and “Gangsta” cleanse you from the social histories that have made you believe your truths do not belong in book shelves because of your race, gender, sexuality, culture, and class. While the duo stated that their newest album, “I Can Feel You Creeping Into My Private Life” is political, in concert, it is truly felt. Lyrics of wisdom, like the one previously stated, sonically clap like a game of patty-cake asking you to clap-back.
Tune-Yards – ABC 123 (Official Video)

I have to say Tune-Yards is one of the best shows I have ever seen. Merrill Garbus has both a vocal and emotional range that goes incredibly high. She understands that to free her audience form social boundaries, she has to be free herself. She dances towards the crowds, belts her lyrics, and picks her instruments like flowers being offered to you as a musical bouquet. The result is a show that emanates inclusiveness is FUN! Often, we talk of a unified world in terms of justice, equality, and peace, but Tune-Yards’ party/ concert exemplified that when we are all together, we can be happier! For More Information On Tune Yards Click Here.
Tune-Yards – Look at Your Hands (Official Video)