El Perro del Mar
Taken by Trees
Troubadour - March 3, 2010
There are three main types of singers: those who are totally embarrassed to be on stage, those who just can't help themselves when they're up on stage and wiggle around like a vocalist possessed, and those who just try too hard and we the audience are embarrassed to be watching them.
Luckily, the two bands I went to see at The Troubadour had singers of the first two varieties. Victoria Bergsman from Taken by Trees was so humble up on stage, though she knew what she was doing, especially with bell anklets on both feet. And El Perro del Mar's Sarah Assbring marched, jogged, and had her heart on her sleeve during the entire eleven song set.
I love watching foreign acts. Both of these bands were from Sweden, and though both singers had a firm grasp on the English language, they sometimes gave sentences an unexpected turn of phrase. When Bergsman introduced her band members she said "I should introduce them all, the brilliancy." And later Assbring told us very frankly how her heart had been broken in Los Angeles, and which songs that experience had brought about. Much different from the way that domestic singers often won't talk about the inspiration for their songs.
And of course foreign singers bring their own style of dressing to the stage. Bergsman was dressed in a dark little dress, tights, heels, and those awesome bell things (which didn’t seem to put out much sound, unfortunately). But it was Assbring’s outfit that my companion and I spent most of our time ogling. It was some sort of odd, well, it was one piece, like a dress but with shorts . . . the sleeves reminded me of butterflies and we couldn’t figure out how she got herself into it.
Of course their music was amazing, and the crowd swayed along to their soft voices. Before Assbring’s last song (before the encore) she told us “This is for your hands,” and then proceeded to clap out a complicated pattern, which the audience attempted to follow.
As far as I could tell, both bands used the same guitarist, drummer, and bassist (they changed clothes, which always confuses me). The drummer, who during Assbring’s set was wearing a too tight ladies’ v-neck was hilarious with how into the music he was. His t-shirt seemed to get smaller during the set, and by the end of it he may as well have been shirtless.
This tour consists of two amazing women with sweet voices and strong feelings. It’s really heartwarming to watch.
Check me out! I got through the whole review without once talking about Assbring’s last name! I – wait. Crap. |
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