This past Thursday was the Real Estate and Kurt Vile show at The Bishop. Both bands were relatively unfamiliar to me. I'd gotten a chance to listen to Real Estate's self-titled album, and briefly sampled Kurt Vile's last album and ep. I knew from the start that I would probably like Real Estate's set, considering how blissful their album sounded. Kurt Vile's set was more up for grabs. The first band to go on was Throwing Stars, who I'm not familiar with at all. They were relatively fun and reminded me of some '90s alternative band (not in a bad way). Their singer had a strong voice, and the instrumentalists were all pretty solid. Then it was Real Estate's turn.
They did not disappoint. The band was tight and had a level of precision similar to their album. It's difficult to describe their sound without using adjectives I would normally apply to boring music, which this certainly was not. Although the band is from New Jersey, their twinkling guitars bring up images of summer and beaches. Although sometimes meditative, there was excitement in every song. Their singer, Martin Courtney, had a voice that seemed to effortlessly float over the haze of the guitars.
Kurt Vile ended the night with his set. He had an interesting instrumentation: 2 guitars, 0 bass, 1 harp, 1 drummer. The drummer even looked like he might have been using a concert bass drum instead of a rock set bass drum. Maybe it was just bigger than usual. I'm old fashioned and like some bass, but I was surprised at how the lack of bass never seemed to detract from the performance. Kurt Vile and his other guitar player used lots of feedback, to the point that a clear bass tone might seem like it was intruding. Even with the swirling bits of psychedelia and fuzz, Vile's songs were surprisingly tuneful and melodic. I don't think I actually understood a single word he said, possible due to the feedback or his hair getting in the way, but it was good enough without obvious words. Both of the main bands that played that night were new to me, but it was definitely a worthwhile show, and now there will be something to look forward to.
-Brian Marks
