Polyphonic Spree at Irving Plaza, NYC August 25, 2004
\nBy Doktor John<\/p>\n
What does it sound like when two dozen singers\/musicians crowd onto the stage at Manhattan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Irving Plaza and let loose with literally everything they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got—heart, soul, sight and sound?<\/p>\n
This Dallas-based, pop-choral, multi-instrumental brainchild of former members of Tripping Daisy joyously performed orchestral, emotionally over-the-top, terminally-catchy anthems with insanely positive lyrics between intervals of spacey electronica. <\/p>\n
The lead singer and a choir of nine vocalists flung their heads (and their hair) accompanied by a harp, flute, violin, trumpet, trombone and French horn as well as two drum sets, guitars, keyboards and the weirdest of all instruments, the Theremin. <\/p>\n
The lyrics may not make a lot of sense, but delivered with shamelessly theatrical sincerity by lead vocalist Tim DeLaughter, they engendered an inescapable feeling of universal love and optimism. The audience was transported into a state of euphoria and swayed like waves in a sea of humanity to the repetition of lines like, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Hey it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Sun and it makes me shine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The lyrics sound like those sappy, inspirational sayings on posters for sale in the mall, but here they seemed to be intentionally trying to make even less sense. <\/p>\n
Although the group appears attired in gospel-choir robes of various pastel colors, and the overall atmosphere is not unlike the frenzy inside a Pentecostal church, there is no suggestion of traditional or institutional religion.<\/p>\n
There were solo performances by the flutist, violinist and lead female vocalist, and a dueling drum duet, but front man DeLaughter draws most of the attention with his complex, puzzling persona, portraying a slightly demented, singing motivational speaker who is trying hard to set an example that one can drown out depression, existential Angst (and perhaps bad drug experiences) by chanting proclamations of happiness and love to the accompaniment of clamorous music.<\/p>\n
Polyphonic Spree, a synthesis of opera chorus, New Age marching band, gospel choir, 60s love-happening, brass-band and municipal orchestra serves as an antidote for all the dark themes of metal, punk and industrial music, and it represents the polar opposite of everything cynical, violent and explicit that has dominated rock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122n\u00e2\u20ac\u2122roll for the past thirty or so years. <\/p>\n
The new CD, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Together We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re Heavy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d provided most of the material in their hour-long performance which concluded with a friendly romp by band members through the appreciative audience. Encores featured the inspirational hit video \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Light and Day\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the heart-warmingly-nutty \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Soldier Girl.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Many spectator-participants were left in tears. Polyphonic Spree at Irving Plaza, NYC August 25, 2004 By Doktor John What does it sound like when two dozen singers\/musicians crowd onto the stage at Manhattan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Irving Plaza and let loose with literally everything they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got—heart, soul, sight and sound? This Dallas-based, pop-choral, multi-instrumental brainchild of former members of Tripping Daisy joyously performed orchestral, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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