Blonde Redhead, Webster Hall, NY

The concert experience is greatly influenced by the crowd in attendance. If the musicians or attendees are apathetic their disinterest hangs in the air, just below speakers hung from the ceiling. If the crowd is comprised of fans, their general enthusiasm and well-wishing toward the musicians can add change the presentation of mediocre songs into a memorable one. At Webster Hall the audience is certainly comprised of fans.

Blond Redhead have had a complicated career, plagued by accusations of derivative sound and song. Initially, some critics claimed they sounded too much like Sonic Youth. Currently, their latest release has been derided for succumbing to the allure of the atmospheric and synthesizer driven trend in much of current indie rock. Yet, despite these criticisms the band has managed to develop a significant amount of admirers.

Nowhere is this more evident than at Webster Hall. Despite the significant criticisms of their last album the band have a two night run at one of the larger indie-rock venues in New York City, and the first of those nights is packed. From the first moment it’s obvious that the crowd is entranced by Kazu Makino’s delicate voice, excellent costume (a white dress like something an alien nurse would wear in an original Star Trek episode, and mask that looks like someone attached an Rip Van Winkle beard to the bottom of a squid), and the playing of the brothers Pace.

As Makino dances and sings over beats that have more in common with Italian electropop than the band’s original art-rock thunder, it’s difficult not to wonder if, for possibly the first time, the band is having fun. This would not be as surprising if one of the band’s break through albums was not so aptly titled, ‘Misery Is A Butterfly’.

This does not mean that Blonde Redhead have gone upbeat, their music is still full of the tension and longing that has defined their career, but there’s a certain relaxation and presentation that indicates the band is comfortable with their new material. They seem to enjoy their movement away from guitar noise toward a more palatable synthesized sound.

Yet, up against songs like ‘23’’s ‘Spring And By Summer Fall’ and it’s building guitar lines this newer material seems somewhat out of place. Certainly, Makino’s voice is unmistakable and the signature minor chord progressions are still in place. But songs like ‘Will There Be Stars’ just don’t hold up against the urgency, twinging guitars, and crushing creepiness of ‘Falling Man’.

In a live setting the audience don’t seem much to mind. Songs of the new album, ‘Penny Sparkle’, are met with the same amount of cheering as songs from ‘Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons’. Additionally, Blonde Redhead put on a good show. With a backdrop of professional photographers lights (the kink that look like umbrellas) that flash accordingly on cue, and the lovers talk as played out on stage between Makino and Amedeo Pace, their performance is certainly engaging.

The engagement of the audience and the reciprocal thanks of the band combine to create an incredibly solid rock show. Expectation and general excitement pervades the air and the band completely commit to their performance, giving their all to each song. Surrounded by a concert hall filed with dedicated fans, it’s easy to dismiss the band’s less engaging songs while waiting for their more outstanding material.