D ^ B ^ G ^ B

what you see here is david byrne watching the gnarls barkley show at webster hall on monday may 22. yeah, thas right. david byrne. was standing next to the man for the whole show. my friend's brother told him he was his hero and DB gave him a genuine smile. awesome.

i don't know if i can say the same for the band. actually let me preface any analysis by saying that i don't own the album, so i came to the show knowing very little except that my friend zac is in the band (he's the man with the crazy hair at the keyboards next to danger mouse) and they've had the number 1 single ('crazy') in the UK for like the past 12 weeks. and since the band hasn't hit the US with the same force they've hit the UK (yet?), in being unacquainted with the music i probably had a lot in common with a lot of the audience.

i guess my one expectation, having heard the insanely catchy single, was that the show would be energetic and engaging, but it was obvious from the get-go that this wasn't what gnarls barkley was about. as i've heard, the truth is that the album is very dark, with lyrics about depression and suicide and several slow ballads that are nothing like the pop-infused single. looking down on the crowd from the balcony, everyone seemed a bit confused by the sound, and certainly not engaged in the music. obviously, getting acquainted with the album would help with this, but it was still a bit of a surprise.

the big hair band costume theme didn't help with the confusion. apparently there's a concept behind the band, with gnarls barkley being some alter ego character for cee lo, so every gnarls barkley performance is differently themed. (i'm not sure i understand this, but okay.) they did wizard of oz at coachella and started the set off with 'breathe' from dark side of the moon and proceeded to trip the crowd out even more than they already were. so, yeah, the whole thing was a little perplexing. and i'm not sure how much a band based on such a clear gimmick can last as something real. granted, the gimmick probably seems a lot less of one once you know where the band is coming from, but they still have to spend a lot of time coming up with the costumes and money on purchasing them and getting the whole thing together. what, exactly, are they about?

of course, regardless of any pure motivations behind the band (of which i don't doubt there are many), any musical act trying to make it in the world today -- and certainly one with the kind of buzz gnarls barkley has generated -- represents countless hours of market strategizing. at the after party at a club in the meat packing district, this was in full force, with the hot music, hot crowd, free crap and open bar attempting to get the taste makers of new york on board. as far as i was concerned, i was just excited to be getting free drinks, but it's true that they had created the atmosphere they meant to, and now they're going to ride the wave of that buzz and hit the road for a world tour for the next year.

alright, i know i'm a horrible negative pessimist, and i will say that cee lo has the most ridiculous voice. i can't speak to the whole critical appraisal that the band has gotten for being boundary crossing -- they've got the r&b thing, the cool dj, even a string quartet (sonus quartet, one of the members of which went to my high school) -- but i will just say this: combining things that have never been combined before doesn't automatically mean that it will yield something awesome. but i'll let you know later, if and when i decide to shell out the cash for the record.