Noah and the Whale showcases musical ambidexterity with crowd-pleasing performance at El Rey
By Shannon Cosgrove
May 28, 2011 11:27 p.m.
UK indie band Noah and the Whale stoically took the El Rey stage Wednesday night after Canadian opener Bahamas warmed up a responsive crowd with sweet and twangy rockabindy – a combinaiton of rockabilly and indie – songs, including a sing-along to Wreckless Eric’s “(I’d Go the) Whole Wide World.”
Incessant cheers cracked a smile on lead singer and guitarist Charlie Fink’s face, however, as the band launched into “Give a Little Love” off its debut album.
Rewinding to the band’s most recent release, “Last Night on Earth,” Fink air-drummed along to the first few beats of “Just Me Before We Met” as strobe lights flooded the stage.
Throughout the show, Fink ping-ponged the microphone between his hands and fiddler Tom Hobden bobbed his head in time to the music, an illuminated wave of hair crashing over his face every down beat.
With music resonating in their limbs, all members of the band sang along with songs and stomped their feet in time, clearly well-versed in all the parts. Some of the band members even traded instruments at points, further establishing them as one fluid musical entity.
The crowd also became a part of the band, singing “this is a song for anyone with a broken heart” along with Fink on “Blue Skies” from the band’s sophomore release. Noah and the Whale swam in blue stage lights as the story behind the song seemed to be playing out in Fink’s faraway eyes.
Young teenage girls, who made up more than half of the audience, filled in former member Laura Marling’s vocals on first album favorites such as “5 Years Time.” Along with Marling, ukulele was also gone from the song, replaced with electric guitar that added a rock “˜n roll punch to the lighthearted anthem about the uncertain future of relationships.
With Fink’s Fender Jaguar and Fred Abbott’s electric-acoustic Taylor and synth-heavy keyboard, the band showcased its musical ambidexterity from the tranquility of “Wild Thing” to the turbulence of “Rocks and Daggers.”
The band’s last song was, ironically, “First Days of Spring,” a six-minute anatomy of a breakup that moved from the slow pounding of the bass drums to the frantic whirlwind of all the instruments, ending on shrill notes of violin.
The boys came back for an encore that included their new single “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N,” an optimistic indie cheerleader chant, before Fink reclaimed his hat from the guitar stand and vanished with the other dark suits into the settling smoke.
