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November 20, 2007
Pylon, Live @ the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11.08.07
photos by Devon Banks
Rushing off for a Thanksgiving getaway, but it felt sinful to leave Devon's notably lovely photos languishing in publishing queue for yet another week. When we strolled into the Music Hall on the night in question, shortly after the Oxford Collapse had finished, the room was sparsely populated enough for us to stroll right up to the very front, quickly establishing prime photographic real estate. From the depths of the DJ booth, Gang of Four drummer Hugo Burnham (cheekily billing himself as Gang of One) was unspooling tattered post-punk that was new even to me. Which is why you bring the man in, obviously. The crowd slowly expanded, and he creeped into this decade with some spastic Klaxons remixes. Despite his best efforts, it was one of those incorrigible set up waits, where spontaneously synchronized foot stomping erupts.
When the band finally took the stage, in their matching red tees, the eruption from the faithful (skewing a bit older than your usual Billyburg gig) seemed to cause a bit of a collective Pylon blush. Their predictable opener, "Cool," was a but rougher than you might expect. Michael Lachowski's bass seemed to be wrongly wired, despite the deliberate set up, so the song became a chopped pile of its conglomerate parts. As a deconstructionist curtain pull-back, this was actually, forgive me, pretty cool. A slash of guitar from the right, a disconnected bassline isolated at the end. It's all about the drums, anyway, apparently. They followed that with the single's original b-side, "Dub." Vanessa Briscoe, (now Briscoe Hay), improbable screams and frenetic dancing haven't softened with age.
Due to the cruel whims of fate, I've only just been able to get rightly acquainted with the band's wondrous first album, Gyrate. It's DFA re-issue comes on the heels of a five year span where half of our fine boroughs bands were borrowing from these Georgians, whether they were conscious of the connection or not. A driving rhythym section coupled with violent guitar outbursts has been an aesthtic staple. Punctuated by Vanessa's playful shrieks, Pylon had a light, joyous touch that has eluded most contemporary disciples. You got the sense of band thrilled to be given not just a second, but a third go round. There was no apparent bitterness at being a group of mainly unsung heroes, just a genuine joy that people still cared enough to show up and get down. The gratitude from both sides of the stage was infectious. Vanessa played conquering hero all night, getting increasingly comfortable in her spastic dancing and even pulling out the trusty traffic whistle a time or two.
They played most all of Gyrate througout the night, but the unquestioned set climax was a blistering version of track 2, "Feast on My Heart." The isolated wildfires of dancing that had sprung up during the show consolidated and intensified, with stationary members at least putting forth the effort to clap along to the stop start beat. Though evidence of this sort of unbridled crowd enthusiasm is easily accessible in You Tubed footage from the band's heyday, you rarely see it outside of a current LCD Soundsystem show. Whether the record further material, or simply let their old stuff continue to trickle out, they've a spiritual home on DFA. For an hour an half, in one room, in one borough of New York City, Pylon mattered, alot.
More terrific shots after the jump...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at November 20, 2007 10:00 AM
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Comments
"For an hour an half, in one room, in one borough of New York City, Pylon mattered, alot."
Nice review.
Pylon is one of those rare and special bands that matters alot(!) to alot(!) of music geeks and they don't even realize it. REM and the B52's aside, without Pylon, we probably wouldn't have been blessed with the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Sonic Youth, Pixies...
Posted by: Christopher at November 20, 2007 06:53 PM
Those pictures are awesome. Now I wish they would come out to Colorado and rock out!
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at November 21, 2007 11:05 AM
It's been like 15 yrs since I've gotten my Pylon on. I was not able to travel to their only Carolina show. Thanks for this.
Posted by: Eric at November 26, 2007 07:18 PM
