My music binge continues at Piano’s, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (LES in text speak), where I checked out a band called El Ten Eleven. Comprised of only two members (though you would never know it from just listening to them), this band will seriously blow your mind. Similar to Ratatat, this duo is an instrumental dance-rock group based out of Los Angeles. Here’s the catch. It’s a drummer, and a guy with a double neck guitar (one neck 6-string guitar, one neck 4-string bass). Through the use of looping technology, they are able to create a full band sound, and an awesome concert experience.
Here is just a taste of what they are like.
It is understandable to be wary of an instrumental band, but for a live show, this is what a band like this is made for. What they lack in vocals, they make up for in talent. The guitarist is looping himself playing both bass and guitar, and at times is actually doing both at the same time.
Additionally, and to their credit, they did all concert goers justice by snuffing out some jack ass in the crowd who yelled “Freebird” at the end of their set. The fat man in front of me, did in fact commit this egregious error, and the guitarist swiftly responded with, “man, most morons yell for ‘Freebird’ at the beginning of the set, at least think of something clever to yell out,” to which the fat man yelled back sarcastically, “oh, guy with the microphone always wins” and like the Bill Murray surrogate from my previous post about Terra Blues, this man most likely ended up floating in the East River.
Anyway, if you are frustrated by instrumental rock, this may not be a band for you, but if you have any interest in being mesmerized by musical talent, you may want to consider seeing these guys while they are still relatively un-famous. They have been working on some film scores (they worked on Helvetica, if anyone saw it), so watch out. They head to California in a few weeks for my west coast readers (are there any non-west coast readers? reveal yourselves if you exist).
After El Ten Eleven, the late night band, Wolff, comes on. They are the regulars at Piano’s, and if you stumble in after 1am, the show is free. Another looping Duo, Wolff, is comprised of a drummer, and a Tuba player, who has a microphone mounted onto his Tuba, which is connected to a DJ table and loop station. It is the same effect as El Ten Eleven, except the guys sings through his Tuba. If that isn’t trippy enough, they usually play with a projector screen which is playing either obscure movies, or Planet Earth.
“La Bomba!”-Chubs’ initial and ignored request.