While I’ve already seen Broken Bells twice before their show on Wednesday 10/06 at the legendary Wiltern in LA, their live performances have always had a particular experiential magic to them, something which I have found special enough to draw me to their performances time and time again. Broken Bells, comprised of James Mercer (of The Shins) and Brian Burton (Danger Mouse), released their self-titled debut album back in March and have been playing shows all across the country, including (albeit secretly) at festivals such as SXSW. The quality of their artistry is undeniable, and their small yet profound body of work gives them accessibility not true for bands with much larger and more thorough discographies. Broken Bells’ novelty stems primarily from their imaginative instrumentation and genre-pushing collaborative work in which, in addition to the group themselves and their live performers, work incessantly to perfect and fine-tune at the live level.
The Wiltern is a venue that’s always a treat to be in as its retro steampunk architecture and style greatly enhances the feeling from the performances and places events in an authentic historical location. This was definitely true for openers Autolux. Shoegaze, sometimes electronic, but mostly rock outfit Autolux put on a surprisingly enjoyable performance. I was not particularly well-versed in their music before (at least not with a listening ear) but their performance was, as far as live performances go, significantly above par—the drummer Carla Azar is of note here as her talent was effectively transmitted from stage to the expectant (and well-behaved) audience.
Moving on, as this review’s not about Autolux, let’s get to Broken Bells’ set. Broken Bells began their set with their first single, “The High Road” which got everyone in the groove of their style (comparatively, Autolux’s style and Broken Bells’ is somewhat dissonant) with their first song off their debut record. Afterwards, Broken Bells explored different songs (with welcome stylistic variations) from their self-titled in a seemingly random yet fitting and unified order (they played every song off their album in addition to treats to be discussed, keep reading).
The best part of the show (clocking in at about an hour and 20 minutes) was undoubtedly their debut of new songs, which sounded like natural progressions from their debut record yet felt paradoxically jovial and melancholic, fitting for their somewhat spacey and multidirectional aesthetic. Not only did they play a few songs from this new material they’ve been working on but they also performed a great cover of “Everlasting Light” by The Black Keys from their most recent album, Brothers in addition to their song “Insane Lullaby” from the collaborative album Dark Night of the Soul with David Lynch and the talented late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. Their new work felt natural and fitting with the sonic universe created by their debut album and were welcome additions to their already-impressive set. Burton is of particular note here as he exercised his multi-instrumentalist repertoire in manning the keys, the drums, the bass and the guitar at various points throughout the set, complementing the various emotions evoked by the vocal dimensions of James Mercer.
Broken Bells’ set was a fantastic give-and-take of audience anticipation and moved the crowd with their reading of the public’s energy. Their adjustments were well informed and played to audience expectation in addition to throwing in treats such as the two new songs and an explosive medley/jam session to close out the sold-out show. In atypical fashion, Burton and Mercer kept their momentous “Mongrel Heart” until the end of the show after their encore, which drew a room-shaking response with incrementing claps and the awful so-called dancing of people having fun. Seeing Broken Bells live is an experience of joy and their performance at the Wiltern is no exception. James Mercer’s vocals and the slight unpredictability of their live show, that is to say, their originality and experimentation via foot pedals and on-the-fly distortion techniques, builds upon the work on their recorded songs to give a greater sense of individuality and eventfulness to the live experience they seek to generate. The Wiltern served as a fantastic backdrop to this magical show and I’m sure will serve as host to their talents again in the future.
Merci to good samaritan Krissy Huizar for the above photography.
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