Results tagged “Devotchka” from Fade Away Never

When experiencing a band live, their performance can either intensify or destroy the ideal you have of them.  We have approached an age when anyone can take an apple computer and a few programmed sounds and make a song without even being able to physically play an instrument.  If they indifferently play an instrument, computer programs can revamp the sound or pitch to make a song nearly irreproducible live.  Even independent artists are guilty of manufacturing. Now the focus has shifted from live performance musicians to overly produced albums.  If a band cannot play live then they are not a band but a machine. 

Recently I have been in a live music lull.  No band has been very impressive musically.  I am getting worn out by the new indie stars who play almost like the honky tonk country artists I saw in Nashville, TN with three basic chords: G, Em, C, and a side of F if your lucky.  I read an essay in Paste magazine written by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie on the plane about how bands should be known for their live performances.  The ironic part is that after seeing Death Cab live I was left feeling empty, craving more, and a little disappointed.  The day after seeing them live, I went back and listened to one of their albums and my high standard was diminished. 

That is why when I saw the vivacious Devotchka at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville I stood astounded.  They captured the essence of what a live performance is and should be.  There is not one particular star in the group but four extremely talented individual artists.  Nick Urata's voice projected throughout the audience.  They had a couple of extra violinist join Tommy Hagerman in a few songs, making a three-piece string section.  Tommy had a decorated "bling" accordion with his name plastered across in jewels.  It is rare that you find a band play BETTER than their studio albums, it's as though the recording process handicaps their capability.  I listened to their album How It Ends when I got home and I gained a new love for the album and admiration for the band.  

Another spectacular addition to this great live show from Devotchka was the rarity of two amazing openers.  Basia Bulat was the main opener and sang along with Devotchka on their encore finale chorus "You Love Me" off the album How It Ends.  The first opener, Amanda Shires, is a Lubbock descendant but now Nashvillian.  

Here is a live video of Devotchka playing "We're Leaving" off the album, How It Ends to get a peek of Devotchka live, but still it does not do them justice compared to physically watching them live.  That box with the antenna sticking out is the theremin I was talking about in the other Devotchka article I wrote. 

Devotchka is a European influenced eclectic band from Denver, Colorado (!?)  I was flabbergasted to find out that they are an American band.  Singer Nick Urata must have gotten his pseudo-accent from his Italian-immigrant grandparents.  The band's name comes from Anthony Burgess' slang word for "young girl" in A Clockwork Orange. 

Minus the end credits with Sufjan Stevens, they were virtually the whole grammy nominated soundtrack of the movie Little Miss Sunshine.  They were originally a backing band for burlesque shows and toured with Dita von Teese.  "The last show we did in Denver, Dita and another girl ended up on top of a twenty-four-foot inflatable black penis covered in whipped cream," Urata says in a Rolling Stones article.

With all of this big band sound, there are only 4 members.  Singer Nick Urata also plays guitar, piano, trumpet, and theremin.  I still do not know if I have a grasp on what a theremin is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin.  Tom Hagerman plays violin, piano and accordian.  Jeanie Schroeder plays sousaphone, bass, and vocals.  Shawn King plays percussion, drums, and trumpet.  If this wasn't impressive enough, they have different guest musicians playing strings and bazoukis.  They are the most comparable to the Colorodo band, Beirut.  The album, A Mad and Faithful Telling (March 18, 2008) will be their first full length album since the release of their most notable album thus far, How It Ends (2004).  

MP3: Devotchka - Transliterator.mp3