Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Bell Orchestre, Bush Hall
Recently, we’ve seen a lot of guitar bands, and as they say, a change is as good as a rest. So Saturday we had a cultural evening with violins and brass courtesy of Bell Orchestre.
For those not in the know Bell Orchestre are an offshoot Arcade Fire, formed by Richard Parry and Sarah Neufeld. They replace guitars with double bass, violin, trumpet and French horn played through a series of effects pedals.
I was actually a bit scared - I picked up their CD on Saturday and managed to cram a listen in before the gig and thought it was a bit quiet. Live, they’re a much better proposition. They start with the brass section at the back of the hall walking towards the stage giving a surround sound affect. The songs (if that’s write thing to call them) build and swirl but there’s always something to keep you interested. I guess the sound is close to Sigur Ros but with extra digital stuff and effects.
Support was from Ted Barnes, whose day job is backing up Beth Orton. He’s got a new album out, which is quite a pleasant acoustic thing, and as a special treat he had Ali Friend in to play double bass. If you don’t know Ali – then check out Reeled and Skinned his record with Red Snapper. Ted and band were good (and we picked up a copy of his new CD) but he’s not much of a front man… so perhaps he’s best off backing up Beth.
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