Blonde Redhead @ The Phoenix

Curran and I ventured far (across the street from my apartment) to The Phoenix Concert Theatre to see Blonde Redhead last night, and it was incredible! Kazu was as transfixing as ever, and I came to appreciate their new album as a new direction in their catalogue. Though I initially felt the 23 vibe all over it (hearing its electronic bass laden textures more as an extension of the last album than a new effort), the new songs have a completely different feel when performed live, something deeper and darker than the starry dream-pop of their 2007 fare. In addition, they played “Melody of Certain Three” off of Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, and “Falling Man” off of Misery is a Butterfly, which made me swoon (a.k.a. made me go fucking ballistic). Kazu also wore a bizarre alien-like mask during several of the new songs which gave the whole performance a sincerely eerie quality, but I unfortunately couldn’t capture it in my photos (perhaps it had something to do with the combination of backlight, my sub-par cellphone camera, and bacchanal dancing). Regardless, this performance was bananas, and Blonde Redhead has reminded me, again, why they hold the largest part of my musical heart.