Saw the show last night at the Bowery Ballroom. Suffering from never-as-good-as-the-first-time syndrome, I didn't expect to be blown away and I wasn't, but it was enjoyable. I'm just going to mention random thoughts, so excuse me if this makes no sense or it sounds like my imagination has gone overboard (always a possibility). Also, I'm making an attempt not to go too soap opera, either.

Anyway, the band was good, very energetic, Eli as always the spastic one, Scott looking like he's about to beat on someone. Lots of extremes: the bass heavy stuff is giving way to the funky keyboard sounds. They played lots of Freakonica, of course. Exorcisto and Park Ave and Roxy sound even better live, while others like Black Hole not as lame. The older songs are starting to change. There are either chord changes accidentally missing, attempts at new arrangements, or a speaker had blown. Couldn't tell. On the whole, though, a really strong performance.

I definitely believe this is a transition period, however, although not a failure because of the very fact that they are experimenting in sound, and band structure with the DJ. Not a failure except that they don't *seem* to be getting along very well, and my guess would be over the musical direction. Some of the experimentation is background filler: The DJ (Gilbert?) played now typical 80's pop/hip hop like Young MC and Tone Loc and some disco as a warm-up, and it's becoming a little jarring. During the show he cut off Scott's lead vocal once with one of those really cliche rap "oh yeah"'s (not the Ferris Bueller one).

On top of that, the second opening band Buffalo Daughter is this sweet poppy Cibo Matto-like group, fronted by two women, sample-heavy, atmosphere-heavy, cute funk, with their harder edge only a very small part of the act. I kind of liked them, but they're not exactly a good match, unless the new vision (Eli's?) of the band is really this electronic-guitar-Black Hole sound dominated by keyboard effects and this year's version of GVSB is only the starting point. Strange juxtapositions live and on the record that just don't jell yet. For instance, I think they're using the iconic elements of hip hop, like the scratching, without it meaning anything. This is on casual listening though. I might be missing the genius buried below the surface. The way I see it, the danger at this point is that the band will cave in rather than really change. They seem to be stuck in-between.

At one point during a mumbled exchange between Eli and Scott, Scott said something sarcastic like "disco and ---?---, it's always a good combination".

To me the sound is like a combination of elements, instead of an organic thing. House of GVSB and the live gig are fighting each other rather than working together.

Finally, the crowd was f l a t, most obvious when they couldn't get the energy up to applaud at the end. The band did a mandatory encore, of course, but the crowd just stood there beforehand expecting it. There was a long discussion months ago about encores. When a band comes out automatically, it does render the audience a little pointless. Part of the problem is the DJ spinning throughout the time between show and encore, and it never quite felt like there was a break.

DJ=evil? No, I like all that electronic stuff. Really. I think GVSB could make something new out of it, rather than fluff, if they kept trying.