utterly gorgeous show. the Brooklyn Youth Chorus was especially nice. Will they have them again tonight?

absolutely amazing.
here we go magic wasn't as good as they were when they opened for dept of eagles awhile back at bowery

from the WNYC comments
"Grizzly Bear's music is whiny, dumbed-down, soporific, stultifying, half-baked, pretentious and poorly executed. Their banal Emperor's-New-Clothes irony masquerading as nuance is a bore. My musical training and tastes are very eclectic -- everything from Gregorian chant to classical to bluegrass to jazz to worldbeat to indie rock and on and on. I have very open ears. Where Grizzly Bear is concerned, there truly is no "there" there. I imagine them privately laughing up their sleeves at their own success. The only way I can explain it is that because of American Idol and hip hop, our pop musical culture has long been bereft of basic musical values such as tunes, harmonies and instrumentation. Hence, our poor ears are starving for anything that reminds us of the tonal system in a way that doesn't feel assaultive. Well, Grizzly Bear sort of sings in tune and sort of applies a bit of harmony, but that's not the same thing as actually having something to say. It's possible to feel assaulted by pretension, too. Their music reeks of privilege and self-importance while their sensibility shrieks "I'm so bored, so cool and so sensitive." Well, I may not be cool, but I am sensitive, and I am way, way bored."
I am a fan of grizzly bear but I must agree with some of this

From Sondre Lerche's Twitter feed last night:

"Sat next to Michael McDonald at glorious Grizzly Bear concert! The world is too great/weird!"

"On a Spit, On a Neck"

HAHAH

the song is called "on a neck, on a spit," but that's a great typo

i agree with that wnyc comment as well. assaulted by pretension is a good way to put it sometimes.

i've seen them live a few times, and what really bugs me, is that they have a new album out, but the setlist has barely changed! the ONLY songs from that setlist that i have not seen them play before is "Southern point" and "i live with you". out of the whole setlist, if i had went, it would have been two new songs into the rotation that i had not seen previously. which is not worth $30 or whatever it came out to be.

i don't know about this band. they have some great songs, but people have to stop jizzing about them eventually. veckatimest is not the best best thing, though it has one or two GREAT songs that i'll go back to on it.

Honestly, that WNYC comment is just uninformed and comes from a biased standpoint.

They were great. Foreground was chilling...
also, to above poster about playing new songs. Unless you saw them at SXSW, I've never seen Foreground, Ready, Able, or many of the other songs.

New Yorker>>>WNYC commenter

i think his comment is anything but biased

wow, that hack with the huge schnozz didn't wear a plaid shirt this time.

Michael McDonald!

Such a long way to goooooooooooo

to 1:18,

didn't see them at sxsw. saw them right here with an orchestra, and they played boeven th ready, able and foreground (and that was underwhelming! and so expensive)

they've also been playing cheerleader, two weeks, while you wait for the others, and fine for now for quite sometime now, for example at APW and the subsequent MHOW show.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/7769/family-guy-michael-mcdonald

you know we have enough idiots here making comments do we really need to source an anonymous commenter from another website ?

I thought the show was great. Grizzly Bear consistently deliver a solid live show.
As for 1:14- Yes, Grizzly Bear may often play a similar setlist; however, they do attempt to make each live performance exciting, such as by perfoming with the orchestra at BAM, including the Brooklyn Youth Choir, or having other guests perform with them.
I mean, do you really find that other bands change up their setlists all that much, especially when they are attempting to promote a new album?

New Colorado is excellent.

nico muhly was killing the keys as well.

1:14 - must be nice to be able to go to sooooo many shows that you can get upset when the setlist doesn't change. i wish my parents were indifferent and supplied me with a trust fund too!

how can there be such division about this? ed droste has the most beautiful voice and it sounded so amazing with the town hall acoustics. the show looked awesome, sounded awesome, and i had chills. look, everyone knows we specialize in overblown adoration/condescension over here, but i am so happy i got to see them again last night. if you have a problem listening to such gorgeous songs more than one time, i suggest you get your ears checked.

for real. that show was gorgeous. I can't believe anyone would walk away disappointing. it was down right haunting at moments. it looked and sounded unbelievable. I can't even begin to think of a comparison. Maybe the arcade fire shows at the church? I still have to say this one was better.

of course, this was my first grizzly bear show, but I 100 percent guarantee it won't be my last

WNYC commenter = the actual pretentious ass tool. Fuck him and the f'education he rode in on.

grizzly bear was awesome last night and if anyone in their gang is reading this, please fix the light show! there is way too much going on. the contrast between the hanging "edison" bulbs and the lasers are negating each other. this isn't coldplay and a lot of the over lighting and density is actually ruining the aural experience of the concert. tone it down, grizzly bear doesn't need all that flash and flare.

Bear killed it last night. They are at the peak of their game. The presentation, sound, lights, pacing, nuances, interaction with each other and the audience were all pitch perfect - these are 4 supremely gifted musicians who could each front his own band. Having seen the band quite a bit in the last 2 years, I approached the show feeling a bit Bear-burnt out, but came away savoring every minute of beautiful music that the beast put forth.

set times from last night?

i think anybody who attempts to qualify his opinion by invoking 'gregorian chant' is a fucking toolbox.

wow, that picture.

panda bear really put on some gay.

1:47 - some people work.

May I say I love Tunnelvision by Here We Go Magic? I vaguely remembered hearing it when they opened for Dept of Eagles at Bowery, but now it's burned into my head.

Great show last night! Those songs with the Brooklyn Youth Choir were the most doosh chilling thing I've seen in a long time.

is doosh chilling a good thing?

It was a great show. I'm glad that it was sit down so that I didn't have to jostle with the punk ass grizzly bear fans who make me want to kill myself with their annoying posturing that somehow takes up more space than their emaciated hipster bodies should.

I think part of the reason people find Grizzly Bear pretentious and/or boring has to do an aspect of the band that doesn't really get discussed much: the lyrics. They are vaguely evocative at best and bad high school poetry at worst. Effective in small doses, but tiresome over the course of an entire album or concert. And they're delivered with such preciousness. Read the lyrics to "About Face" or "Foreground" for example.

That said, everything else was strong last night. Beautiful show.

honestly, the pretension of invoking jazz and gregorian chant to define your eclectic, superior musical taste before bashing grizzly bear, it hurts my head. plenty of lame ass rock fans think grizzly bear is boring; whatever, i disagree, but at least they aren't claiming superior taste based on a fucking cd of gregorian chant picked up in some used bin somewhere.

what time did Here We Go Magic go on?

Here We Go Magic went on at 8 and i think they're going on at that time again tonight.

here we go magic was 8-8:45, grizzly bear 9:15-about 10:30?

great show. the reworked colorodo was cool.

2:12-agreed. the lights were a bit over the top for GB. it was as if the lighting guy couldn't resist using everything at his/her disposal (in the first song!) and they were often distracting.

Grizzly Bear are at the forefront of something really special. Have seen them enough that I haven't caught a live set since APW, but now I sort of want to hit Town Hall tonight.

That said: I hope they didn't hand-pick HWGM to open these dates, because those guys are whack. I mean say what you will about GB (who are think are ethereally compelling), but Magic is just go-nowhere, weak-to-no melody garbage. I don't mean to heap any personal scorn on Luke Temple, but the music just doesn't hold up at all. All those people on stage and nothing compelling going on.

Also: Here We Go MEHgic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBelT-Xi1CY

Thanks, greg. Grizzly Bread.

@4:29 Yes, they definitely handpicked Here We Go Magic. I recall that Rosen was praising them on their blog when the album dropped.

I don't like it quite as much as the solo Luke Temple stuff, but it is very solid and creative IMHO. God forbid that any of the hipsters commenting on BV actually like something.

Grizzly Bear is the best band out there right now, though I wish that nobody else knew about it and that the media hype would go away before it makes them crash and burn.

Seriously? What the hell are the two dudes on here talking about in regards to the lights? They were f-ing amazing. Such a good show tonight.

If for some reason anyone from the band does read this like one guy was suggesting, I hope they disregard that whiny tool. This show really took them to another level. I hope they have more plans like this. Whoever did that show should be proud. They killed it.

I can't believe the people on here. Are you just jealous it's not you?

Best show of 2009 so far.

i do agree that it was the best show of the year so far, but the lights were still over the top for the dynamic and ethereal reach that grizzly bear possess. i can love the band and still have discern with the lighting of the show. the visuals were smothering the songs. it was much better when they played the NY mag event on valentine's day and it was just a long row of 60 candles lit along one wall next to the stage. grizzly bear doesn't need all that razzle dazzle to enhance their show. their music speaks for itself.

I guess I can see where some of you are disagreeing here. they've never really had a show like this, so its all new territory for all of us. I went to the first night and I was downright giddy afterwards. I could definitely see where you thought the light show was over the top and normally I would agree, but it wasn't like the show was just flashing randomly ala an AC show. what I was seriously seriously impressed with was just how synchronized the show was with the band. It was like there was a total lock going on between them. he must be a friend or a super fan or something.

I love that they're trying to make a statement though and engage the audience visually. this is probably the beginning of something bigger for the band. I'm sure they'll refine the experience even more over the next year and who knows, maybe they do read this shit, but I hope they don't waste their time doing so.

personally, I was ridiculously stoked.

Sondre Lerche + Michael McDonald = TAKIN IT TO THE STREETS

I love Grizzy Bear. I can't wait for Sunday.

lets just say!!!! fuck the haters

the magic was at the towne hall on may 28th and 29th. We love you griz
zly
bear

setlist for MHoW:

Southern
Cheerleader
Little Brother
Knife
Fine for Now
Two Weeks
Colorado
Lullaby
Ready, Able
I Live With You
Foreground
Fix It
While You Wait
---
On a Neck

Does anyone have the set list for the Friday 5/29 show? I was there but didn't jot it down. Amazing show as well...