the One AM Radio at Fort Oregon
I’m a little backlogged as far as the concert review posts go, but here’s one I definitely wanted to mention.
[As a side note, does anyone but myself like these concert reviews?]
On Friday I saw Hrishi Hirway and the One AM radio at Fort Oregon in Berkeley. I’ve mentioned the One AM Radio before in this post about his kickball music video (which I still love) and this concert recap of his last Fort Oregon show.
Gumbeaux and I got to the Fort around 10pm. It’s just a house in Berkeley with occasional shows in the basement. As a venue it’s pretty odd–you’re standing under ducts or next to a furnace quite often. The opening band was the Golden Birds. It was quite a turnout for them and I think they have a following around here. The basement was pretty full. They were good indie pop but the sound seemed a little bit like a band playing in someone’s basement.
The One AM Radio’s sound combines the electronic elements with intimate vocals and colorful arrangements. Their live set up this time through was Hrishi on guitar, vocals and laptop operating; a tenor saxophonist, a tenor/ alto saxophonist and an upright bass player. The only things that were amplified were the vocals, guitar and laptop.
The One AM Radio started out with the Greatest of Ease (mp3). A really nice version of “Drowsy Haze” with the audience singing backups followed [1]. After a few songs from the new album (including In the Time we’ve Got (mp3)) he asked if there were any requests and after hearing a few, he played Flicker (mp3). He then played my favorite new song (“Echoing Airports”) and favorite old song (“All I Can Recall is the Haunting”) in a row.
His last show I was pretty tired and wasn’t all that into it. This one was completely different. I enjoyed it a lot. The mix was great (despite the fact that the mix was being done by the guitarist/ vocalist/ laptopist and the rest weren’t being amplified); Hrishi’s voice was great; the song selection and the songs were great.
[1] I have mentioned it before but I’ll mention it again: I like when bands ask the audience to sing along. I like it a lot.
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
[…] The One AM Radio is Hrishi Hirway and a rotating cast of characters. For instance, during his last tour, which I saw he was with two sax players and a upright bassist. Earlier I’d seen him with a violinist and two french horn players or a violinist and upright bassist. TOAR has always mixed electronic and acoustic elements but This Too Will Pass harkens back to his first album Hum of Electric Air with more of an emphasis on the acoustic elements than his second, A Name Writ in Water. […]
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:27 am
[…] One AM Radio @ Fort Oregon, Berkeley, CA, 3/16 (original post) — Hrishi Hirway sang, played guitar, triggered samples and acted as sound man during a set […]
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:27 am
[…] One AM Radio @ Fort Oregon, Berkeley, CA, 3/16 (original post) — Hrishi Hirway sang, played guitar, triggered samples and acted as sound man during a set […]
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:27 am
[…] One AM Radio @ Fort Oregon, Berkeley, CA, 3/16 (original post) — Hrishi Hirway sang, played guitar, triggered samples and acted as sound man during a set […]