Photos by Anika Mottershaw
I had never seen a stage so cluttered as that of the Barbican on the night the London Symphony Orchestra and Grizzly Bear collaborated. Before laying my eyes on the stage it hadn’t quite computed with me that we would be seeing the full orchestra on show. I had expected a stripped down affair, similar to Grizzly Bear’s performance with a string quartet on Letterman earlier this year. I was in for a lot more than I had bargained for.
The stage was so packed support act St. Vincent was forced into a tight area slightly off the centre of the stage and nearing the edge, leaving her little room to maneuver. Nevertheless she slid and writhed around to the music in the little space afforded. Annie Clark has been touring as St. Vincent all year. This happens to be the third time I’ve seen her, and she’s had a different setup each time. On the first occasion she was the sole figure on stage and provided a spellbinding performance in an intimate venue, the second time she was accompanied by a full band which packed more of a punch, but perhaps lost some of the elegance of the songs. This time she was accompanied by only one other musician, who switched between violin and guitar, and her trusty looping pedals. The stripped down arrangements of the songs were nice enough, but would have been more suited to a smaller venue; a lot of the atmosphere was lost in the cavernous theatre.
When it was time for the headline performance, the London Symphony Orchestra sidled on in orderly fashion, took up their positions, and patiently waited for the arrival of Grizzly Bear. The four young men shortly followed them on to the stage, sharply dressed for this special occasion and took up their positions, lined up across the front of the stage. The music began without a word and the orchestra instantly made themselves known, providing a bed of strings to back up “Easier,” the opening track from 2006’s Yellow House.
The surprising thing about the arrangements for the night is that they were generally quite subtle and only fortified what are already a very strong set of songs that Grizzly Bear have in their catalogue. Only on a few occasions did they really wrestle the attention away from the band. On the singles from Veckatimest “Two Weeks” and “While You Wait For The Others” the orchestra took a break and let Grizzly Bear play as they would on any other night, except accompanied by additional grand piano played by Nico Muhly, who also composed the orchestral arrangements for tonight’s show.
The band members themselves were all on exceptional form and in fine spirits. They seemed honoured to have been presented the opportunity but not awkward, they thanked everyone profusely and even joked about the fact that the crowd clapped too early at the finale of “Knife” meaning that the special orchestral ending had to be abandoned. Musically, the band were tight, particularly the singing, which each member played their part in. Lead-singer Edward Droste’s vocals never wavered in quality from the powerful “Central and Remote” to the delicate cover of The Crystals’ “He Hit Me.” The real star of the show though was Grizzly Bear’s exceptional drummer Christopher Bear. Even with dozens of other performers on the stage, the majority of the night my eyes were focused on him. Just as the conductor led the orchestra, Bear truly is the maestro in the Grizzly Bear live performance, keeping perfect time and incorporating fascinating rhythms into their performance without being superfluous.
The main set finished with a stirring performance of “I Live With You” which flowed brilliantly into the beautiful “Foreground.” The band exited the stage, but the orchestra remained in their seats, making it obvious that an encore was planned, and left me wondering why they even bothered to leave. It did mean that the crowd could could give them a standing ovation, which was deserved. The single song encore bookended the night neatly with Yellow House‘s closing song “Colorado.”
Once the band left the stage for the final time, the crowd was free to spill out into the foyer of the Barbican and beyond, to gush about the virtuoso performance they had just witnessed, to compare notes about what worked and what didn’t, and to debate about which song was the highlight. On a night when nobody can have been entirely sure what to expect, Grizzly Bear can rest assured in the fact that nobody leaving the Barbican that night was left disappointed.
Set list:
Grizzly Bear
Easier
Cheerleader
Southern Point
Central and Remote
All We Ask
Knife
Fine For Now
Two Weeks
Dory
Ready Able
While You Wait For the Others
He Hit Me
I Live With You
Foreground
——————-
Colorado
St. Vincent
Marry Me
Jesus Saves, I Spend
Actor Out Of Work
Oh My God
Save Me From What I Want
The Party
Marrow
What Me Worry
