Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Palladium – 7/5/10
Posted July 8th, 2010 · Artists: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
The exultant hippie blues of up and comers Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros was on full display at their show at the Palladium, and they brought the smaller half size main room down with the hits that everyone knows and everything else in between as well. I have to say I was pretty surprised at the massive turnout for this show, but these guys are blowing up hardcore right now, and it was no more evident than at this show. They have won over the hearts of indie-dom with their chipper, triumphant indie-pop gems like “Home” and “Janglin”. The band however proved themselves way beyond being known for just a few songs as they pretty much nailed everything this night.
The crowd in the palm of their hand, these guys expertly played celebratory indie pop, down tempo country folk, blues and just about everything in between, but all done with great style and ability. They really connected with the audience in a way that few bands have done in recent memory here in Dallas. The band has that freewheeling, love fest, jam band kind of thing going on, but also manage to really pound out some great country/folk/blues hooks into a lot of their songs, and they are able to pull it off in no short part due to the staunch vocals of Jade Castrinos and Alex Ebert, the two main vocalists. Jade has a voice that doesn’t quite blow you away until you hear it live and then it really jumps off the stage and takes hold. Alex as well has a more impressive ability to belt out some bluesy yelps and screams moreso than you might expect, and their range and ability and passion really allow the stage show to go to another level. Behind that, you have solid instrumentation from no less than 6 other people, sometimes more, who lay down very solid backing rhythm and hooks to go along with everything else.
They are definitely in that group collective vein of many other bands of the moment now with many people on stage as part of the band. Their style just works extremely well together, and they may not be as technically involved as other collectives such as Broken Social Scene, they make up for it with some solid, back to basics song structures that really allow Jade and especially Alex, the real showman of the group, to go wild. He even managed to sneak into the crowd for several extended microphone cord moments that were truly great, culminating in the sit down finale where Alex sat in the crowd with 100 fans sitting down on the ground around him as he finished off the night with only one guitar accompanying him.
Needless to say they put on a terrific show and they are very much recommended to check out if you get a chance. Based on the crowd it seems their popularity is out pacing anyone’s expectations and you will probably get a total love fest between them and the crowd no matter where you go. It was a fun, very well done show and I can’t wait to see where these guys go from here. Check out all the photos I took from this great show below.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home – From Up From Below (Amazon | iTunes)
