Let me be very clear: The Granada Theater did their best to ruin this concert experience for everyone – including every audience member and both bands. Luckily for everyone involved, the music was stellar. Many of the complaints I have with the venue that night, I articulated in my Open Letter to the Granada (read the comments there, too; I’m definitely not alone in my extreme displeasure with that venue), but making a long story short – the Granada failed to get anyone in on time, the line to get in was beyond a fiasco as it moved ultra slow – if at all at times, then once you got inside you were greeted by oppressive 90 degree temperatures for the whole show. Despite the Granada amateur hour, Grizzly Bear could not have been cooler and more accommodating, and thank goodness for that, because had they not been so great, the crowd would have been pissed. Venue issues aside, find my full review of the show after the jump along with sample MP3s, setlist, and our live photos. I think I’m still sweaty.
The first band was We Are Magic, and unfortunately I only caught their closing number. BVaz was in line at 8:40 and I met him at 9 and the line did not move for at least 15 minutes. Despite the doors opening at 8:00, the Granada had an unusually extreme level of pure incompetence with regard to letting people with will call into the show. This is not the first sold out show the Granada has hosted; they were just exceptionally bad at getting people through the door this night. As a result, BVaz and I heard (from outside), the band mention that the crowd seemed “a little sparse.” I felt terrible for them because there were literally 100s of people that wanted to get in to watch them play, but the Granada’s sheer incompetency kept the audience from seeing the music. When BVaz and I finally got in around 9:30, there were still 100s of people standing outside wondering what the problem was.
After an extremely long break, Grizzly Bear took the stage at 11:15. Grizzly Bear came out and said it was their decision – they were waiting for the Granada to get everyone in the door because apparently, over three hours after the doors opened, Granada was still having issues checking in will call people. Unreal. Anyways, Grizzly Bear hit the ground running (and got a good response from the crowd) when they opened with Southern Point. Another problem with the Granada Theater is they tend to have their mix range from terrible to just passable. Grizzly Bear sounded pretty good, but for their first few songs, the drums were mixed too loud and Droste was too quiet, but overall it was pretty minor; plus they made an adjustment after 2-3 songs.
The strength of this band is not only the musicianship but these guys’ great voices, and for the whole show they sounded perfect. The harmonies, timing, tune and everything was pitch perfect and brought everything to life. I debated with BVaz and Jill whether we thought their live show in Dallas added a whole lot to the album versions (I said no, they both said yes), as I thought while the songs sounded great and perfect, they pretty much sounded identical to the versions from Veckatmest. Not that I am complaining, but maybe I just wanted a little more variance from the album is all.
The GB dudes hit up definitely my favorites from Veckatmest as they played Southern Point, Cheerleader, Two Weeks, and the great, great While You Wait For the Others. As I said, everything was absolutely pitch-perfect and flawless for the whole show; it’s very impressive to see a live act that is so honed and sharp for an entire concert – even while dealing with unbearable heat inside the Theater. And speaking of the heat, the band handled it like real pros, just taking an extra moment between songs to vigorously towel off their heads, then diving right back in. The band seemed genuinely appreciative of the audience, which hung on every last note of the entire show, which was good to see everyone pull through despite Granada’s best efforts to make the evening a disaster. Nice job Grizzly Bear, nice job Dallas. Go eff yourself, Granada.
Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader from Veckatamest
Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For the Others from Veckatamest
The setlist from the show:
Southern Point
Cheerleader
Lullaby
Little Brother
Knife
Five for Now
Two Weeks
Colorado
Ready & Able
I Live With You
Foreground
While You Wait For the Others
On a Neck, On a Spit
- Break -
Fix It
