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Even leaving Tampa before rush hour on Friday to try to get to the Orlando Tune-Yards show on time, we couldn’t avoid the notoriously terrible I-4 traffic. Between post-work congestion and carloads of tourists leaving the area’s theme parks, we didn’t land in downtown Orlando until about 7:15 p.m., and by the time we’d parked, grabbed a bite, and hoofed it to the Beacham Theatre a little after 8, Tune-Yards were six songs deep into their set. I learned later that the place became a nightclub at 10 p.m., so shows started, and ended, early.
We pressed our way through a thick and attentive crowd of youthful-leaning fans, who seemed to know all the words and weren’t afraid to sing and dance along to every quirky one, in this case, the tail-end of the jerky, ominous, synth-fizzing and vocal whirling “Stop That Man.” Then, we settled in and tried to enjoy what was left of the show.
Tune-Yards primary Merrill Garbus held court front and center, clad in a turquoise fish scale dress and matching eyeshadow that glowed bright beneath her choppy fringe of bleached blonde hair. She tapped and battered a mini-kit with tom, snare, high-hat and various other percussives, programmed loops and sounds on a synthpad, occasionally picked up her uke and added a bit of plucked and strummed melodic texture, and jumped between a couple of mics, crooning or howling on one or the other depending on the effect and volume she was trying to achieve.
But she didn’t need to do so much in the way of vocal looping; three back-up singers – Moira Smiley, Haley Dekle and Dani Markham, the latter also a capable and rather mighty percussionist – brought organic life to the songs' repeated vocal refrains, choruses, quirks, utterances, and whatever else came along, even taking the place of the horns in “Bizness” in an unexpectedly appealing ascension of pretty piping noteplay. The overall result was a most intriguing chorale of feminine voices that worked really, really well, all of it strengthened and carried along by the pulsing lowend grooves of bassist Nate Brenner.
Newer Nikki Nack cut “Water Fountain” got the loudest whoop-alongs, W H O K I L L’s “Bizness” got the biggest roars of appreciation, "Fiya" off first album Bird Brains earned the most 'What's this again?' head scratches — especially considering its placement as the encore — but it was “Time of Dark,” with its whirling and swirling rise of hoots, calls, whoops, coos, chants, howls and primal peals paired with an escalating wash of pulsing tribal percussive-washed rhythms, that proved a stand-out and by far, the most sonically impressive moment of the night.
“I can’t believe this is the first Tune-Yards show in Florida, ever,” Garbus exclaimed, later apologizing –“I’m sorry that it’s taken us so long”– and relating a story about how it had to do with the bad taste left from her first ‘real’ Florida gig many years ago as a solo artist, the biggest paycheck she was ever promised and didn’t get until three years later when she paid a lawyer half to track it down. She voiced her confidence about getting paid on this night, assured us about how happy she was to be there and how touched she was by the appreciation she'd received, and promised to return. She even seemed sincere about it.
While I only witnessed about half show and missed a few favorites –“Gangsta,”“Real Thing,”“Hey Life”– I got a good feel for what Garbus and longtime partner and co-bandmate Brenner are capable of achieving in a live setting. I want to witness it again, and if Garbus can be taken at her word, Tune-Yards will return to Florida. Perhaps next time they’ll make a side-trip to Tampa Bay. If not, I’ll make a point of leaving town considerably earlier...
(Setlist)
Sink-O
Real Thing
Hey Life
Gangsta
Powa
Stop That Man
Wait for a Minute
Time of Dark
Water Fountain
Bizness
Left Behind
E: Fiya
Clik here to view.
Even leaving Tampa before rush hour on Friday to try to get to the Orlando Tune-Yards show on time, we couldn’t avoid the notoriously terrible I-4 traffic. Between post-work congestion and carloads of tourists leaving the area’s theme parks, we didn’t land in downtown Orlando until about 7:15 p.m., and by the time we’d parked, grabbed a bite, and hoofed it to the Beacham Theatre a little after 8, Tune-Yards were six songs deep into their set. I learned later that the place became a nightclub at 10 p.m., so shows started, and ended, early.
We pressed our way through a thick and attentive crowd of youthful-leaning fans, who seemed to know all the words and weren’t afraid to sing and dance along to every quirky one, in this case, the tail-end of the jerky, ominous, synth-fizzing and vocal whirling “Stop That Man.” Then, we settled in and tried to enjoy what was left of the show.
Tune-Yards primary Merrill Garbus held court front and center, clad in a turquoise fish scale dress and matching eyeshadow that glowed bright beneath her choppy fringe of bleached blonde hair. She tapped and battered a mini-kit with tom, snare, high-hat and various other percussives, programmed loops and sounds on a synthpad, occasionally picked up her uke and added a bit of plucked and strummed melodic texture, and jumped between a couple of mics, crooning or howling on one or the other depending on the effect and volume she was trying to achieve.
But she didn’t need to do so much in the way of vocal looping; three back-up singers – Moira Smiley, Haley Dekle and Dani Markham, the latter also a capable and rather mighty percussionist – brought organic life to the songs' repeated vocal refrains, choruses, quirks, utterances, and whatever else came along, even taking the place of the horns in “Bizness” in an unexpectedly appealing ascension of pretty piping noteplay. The overall result was a most intriguing chorale of feminine voices that worked really, really well, all of it strengthened and carried along by the pulsing lowend grooves of bassist Nate Brenner.
Newer Nikki Nack cut “Water Fountain” got the loudest whoop-alongs, W H O K I L L’s “Bizness” got the biggest roars of appreciation, "Fiya" off first album Bird Brains earned the most 'What's this again?' head scratches — especially considering its placement as the encore — but it was “Time of Dark,” with its whirling and swirling rise of hoots, calls, whoops, coos, chants, howls and primal peals paired with an escalating wash of pulsing tribal percussive-washed rhythms, that proved a stand-out and by far, the most sonically impressive moment of the night.
“I can’t believe this is the first Tune-Yards show in Florida, ever,” Garbus exclaimed, later apologizing –“I’m sorry that it’s taken us so long”– and relating a story about how it had to do with the bad taste left from her first ‘real’ Florida gig many years ago as a solo artist, the biggest paycheck she was ever promised and didn’t get until three years later when she paid a lawyer half to track it down. She voiced her confidence about getting paid on this night, assured us about how happy she was to be there and how touched she was by the appreciation she'd received, and promised to return. She even seemed sincere about it.
While I only witnessed about half show and missed a few favorites –“Gangsta,”“Real Thing,”“Hey Life”– I got a good feel for what Garbus and longtime partner and co-bandmate Brenner are capable of achieving in a live setting. I want to witness it again, and if Garbus can be taken at her word, Tune-Yards will return to Florida. Perhaps next time they’ll make a side-trip to Tampa Bay. If not, I’ll make a point of leaving town considerably earlier...
(Setlist)
Sink-O
Real Thing
Hey Life
Gangsta
Powa
Stop That Man
Wait for a Minute
Time of Dark
Water Fountain
Bizness
Left Behind
E: Fiya