Postcards from Philadelphia: Beirut at the Electric Factory
by Katie
If I was young, I’d flee this town…
Being young and freewheeling, and somehow having completely missed that Beirut would be at the Sixth and I Synagogue in DC this weekend (d’oh!), I spent the better part of Friday morning planning an emergency trip to Philadelphia to catch Zach Condon and friends at the Electric Factory. I’ve been music-crushing on Condon since my friend held out a set of headphones to me in a record store in Nice and said, “I think I like this. It’s kind of weird.” After I missed tickets to the Sounds of Brooklyn festival and Sixth and I, I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. Thank frickin’ goodness I didn’t.
There’s something about seeing an artist you really admire live for the first time that can’t be matched at any subsequent shows. You don’t know what they’ll play, or how it will sound, and you keep hoping that you’ll hear your favorites (never mind that your favorites are probably everyone’s favorites, and probably the ones the artist plays night after night). If my own innocent enthusiasm comes through in this review, it’s because I was grinning from ear to ear the entire night. This show was phenomenal.
I was in line at the ATM, soft pretzel dinner in hand, when the crowd in the main hall of the Electric Factory began freaking out. The guy at the ATM twitched nervously, and the girl behind me and I looked over our shoulders, turned, and dashed into the hall. “F*** it!” she remarked. “I don’t need cash that bad!” I responded as the opening chords of “Nantes” and the audience’s delirious screams filled the space. Condon took center stage in a suit jacket and jeans, trumpet tucked under his arm, while the rest of the band surrounded him. As the brass chorus began, the Philadelphia crowd once again flipped the f*** out. If DC crowds are typically quietly respectful of the performers, Philly crowds are bursting with enthusiasm, reacting to even dramatic Balkan folk music like they were in a 10,000 person arena.
Following “Nantes,” the band played my other two favorites, “Mimizan” and “Elephant Gun” and I wondered what they could possibly play for the rest of the night. As it turned out, the show was essentially a greatest hits performance, ranging from new tracks like “My Night With the Prostitue from Marseille” to the older “After the Curtain” and electro-poppy “Scenic World,” and spanning everything in between.
Some girls shouted “Bisous!” at Condon early in the night, which prompted him to spontaneously speak French a few times during the night. “Ah, we’re going to speak French now?” he asked, at which the crowd shrieked. “It makes you scream?” he asked in disbelief, to more shrieks. “Putain!” he muttered (swore) before telling the crowd in English, “What we were talking about right there was Serge Gainsbourg,” and beginning a cover of what must be one of Gainsbourg’s popular songs, because even I sort of recognized it.
Beirut songs are world-weary, sung by characters much older and more tired than Condon himself. Live, the drums are louder which sounds more like rock music underneath the happy accordion and brass trio. Condon’s voice never falters, and sounds as sweet and sad as on the recordings. Was I weak in the knees? Kind of. Do I think I could be carrying his baby right now? Well, I’m not a doctor, but I’m going to say yes.
When the band left the stage, the Philly crowd didn’t take an encore for granted (not that I’m pointing any fingers, DC). They clapped and cheered and took up a chant of, “One more song” before the band returned. Toward the end of the first encore, Condon mused, “Usually by this point in the night, we’re just f**king around. Let’s play ‘Brazil.’” And they launched into the cover, which got the crowd doing something like Latin dance in place.
By the second encore (and, yes, the crowd went just as crazy as before the first) Condon admitted they were making it up as they went along. He concluded the show with what he called a lullaby, playing the ukelele alone on stage in his suit jacket, warbling confidently and then thanking the crowd profusely.
With all due respect to Neko Case, this was the best show I’ve seen in a while, and definitely the best I saw this week.
If anyone is going to see them in DC tonight, I’d love to hear what you think.
(props to pseudospike, who has some great videos of the show on YouTube)
UPDATES!
Commenter Brian found out the name of one of the new songs, and there’s youtube video!
Someone also posted “Mimizan,” which is competing with “Elephant Gun” to be my favorite. I listened to the recorded version 8 times in a row at work today.
I could probably recreate the entire show from videos.
YES.
To everything.
It was truly a great show. Thanks for the videos!
All video credit goes to that guy on YouTube. I just search ‘em! Thanks for reading!
Hey, Since you were also there and I’ve been desperate to find this song since first hearing him play it in Brooklyn. Any idea th’e name of the song whose lyrics went something like uptown, downtown, a thousand miles between us”. It was so beautiful to hear though. I think he said he started writing it at 16 or 17?
Thanks for compiling this btw!
(Oh and I randomly found you via google)
Hi Brian,
Thanks for reading! I have no idea what that song was called, but I did find video of a Beirut show in Brooklyn on baeblemusic:
http://www.baeblemusic.com/concertvideo/MusicHallofWilliamsburg/beirut.html
I can’t watch that much video or my computer will explode, but if that’s the show you’re talking about, maybe this video will help you find the answer? Let me know if you find it out; that song was lovely.
I did find it actually via Lastfm.com where I also left a comment asking if anyone knew.
It’s called East Harlem. There’s a version of it on Youtube if you’d like to hear it without the computer exploding. I found it there too I’m not sure if it’s from Hall of Music Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Academy of Music or Philly. The quality is okay, but you get the feeling of the song at least.
I really wish he would release it so I didn’t have to now figure out how to record it into an mp3 so I could hear it places other than my computer haha.
Thank you!
I was in the same boat—missed getting tickets for Sixth & I and got one last minute for Philly. I really loved this show (with the exception of the guy standing next to me, must never brush his shower / brush his teeth).
I’m glad that the Zapotec stuff translated so well, with a fuller sound than that on the actual EP. “The Akara” may have been my favorite of the new songs, along with “East Harlem,” which I adored. I especially enjoyed that version of “Prostitute” with the live percussion in place of the modulated beats. And of course classics from Gulag.
But I do have a question: does anyone know where I can find a complete set list? I can pick out which album tracks were played, but there were multiple covers and I just can’t remember the order. If anyone can supply a link, that would be great. I can be found on Last.fm under the same name.
Thanks!
Dude, I have no idea how to get a set list. We could try to reconstruct it, but the order would be pretty fucked, I think. Nantes/Mimizan/Elephant Gun to start… Prostitute From Marseille and Scenic World in the 1st encore… closed 2nd encore with East Harlem. I think.
The covers I remember were Serge Gainsbourg’s “La Javanaise” and one called “Brazil.”
Good luck. If you get the list, let us know!
hey, saw this site through my youtube channel. glad you guys like my videos, there’s a bunch i took from their BAM show as well – enjoy!
Cheers, man. This was a great show and you took some great video.
I did end up completing it a day or so later. Not that anyone cares now, but:
01. Nantes
02. Mimizan
03. Elephant Gun
04. The Shrew
05. Postcards from Italy
06. The Concubine
07. La Javanaise (Serge Gainsbourg)
08. A Sunday Smile
09. Scenic World
10. The Akara
11. East Harlem
12. Cherbourg
13. Serbian Cǒcek (A Hawk and a Hacksaw)
————————
14. My Night with the Prostitute from Marseilles
15. Mount Wroclai
16. After the Curtain
————————
17. The Gulag Orkestar
18. Brazil (Ary Barroso)
19. The Penalty
I remembered that I had it when I stumbled across this blog again while searching for the chords to “East Harlem”.
I still care! Wonderful! Thank you!