Quoted from: The Circle
By: Andrew Overton and Joe Walsh
Published: 10/15/09
Grizzly Bear conjures an image of a fearsome four-legged animal for most Marist students. But for a handful of indie music enthusiasts it means soaring vocal harmonies and carefully crafted melodies.
Amidst a seven month international tour in support of their critically acclaimed album, “Veckatimest,” The Brooklyn-based group found time to come by Poughkeepsie to perform in the 100-year-old Vassar College Chapel.
The Oct. 9 show began at 9 p.m., but students lined up as early as 4 p.m. to get prime seating for a sold-out show featuring Grizzly Bear, arguably 2009′s hottest band, and their friends Beach House. By 7 p.m. the line stretched over 300 feet from the chapel doors to the street.
Grizzly Bear’s mid-tempo songs certainly did not translate to a bland live show. The acoustics of the chapel only enhanced the chamber-pop vocals on the set opener “Southern Point.” The crescendos and decrescendos in “I Live with You” made even the most stoic fans nod their heads to the thumping bass drum.
For a college concert the lighting was very impressive. The somber, serious mood the illuminated mason jars, LED lights, and fog created in the chapel accented Grizzly Bear’s steady tempo.
“Grizzly Bear in the Vassar chapel made want to find God, or maybe I already did? I’m a born-again bear,” tweeted Christiney, a Vassar student.
Even those unfamiliar with Grizzly Bear were impressed.
“For not knowing many of Grizzly Bear’s songs, I walked out of the concert absolutely moved by the band’s musicality and presence on stage,” said Jon O’Sullivan, junior. Not everyone left the chapel pleased with the show, however.
“Grizzly Bear was exceedingly boring. Beach House was slightly better. Vassar’s chapel is a great venue, though,” tweeted Oldboats, a Vassar student.
Grizzly Bear is new to the spotlight. The hype surrounding “Veckatimest” propelled it to number eight on the Billboard charts when it debuted in May. Their sophomore album, “Yellow House,” didn’t even crack the top 200 despite positive reviews in the blogosphere.
“I think for an indie-rock band they’ve gotten a lot more popular with the mainstream. We took a lot of sources of information-Pitchfork [the popular music website], CMJ [College Music Journal], radio top lists and feedback from the ViCE music committee in making our final decision,” ViCE music head, Christine Yu, told the Miscellany News, Vassar’s newspaper, on choosing Grizzly Bear.
The art-rock group has also caught the ear of Chris Weitz, director of the “Twilight” sequel, “New Moon.” Weitz asked Grizzly Bear to record a song for the film’s soundtrack. The band accepted and enlisted Beach House vocalist Victoria Legrand to record “Slow Life” (see right column).
Grizzly Bear was joined on stage mid-set by Legrand to perform that song and Veckatimest’s most accessible track, “Two Weeks.”
Grizzly Bear’s new found fame has yet to jade them.
Chris Taylor, bassist, was signing posters and sweatshirts before the show with a huge smile, and throughout the show Taylor and Ed Droste, vocals/keyboards/omnichord, thanked the crowd and the ViCE workers.
In the ultimate form of gratitude, after exhausting their set list the quartet returned to the stage for a special encore with a rare acoustic rendition of “All We Ask.”
We are Vassar College Entertainment, but you can just call us ViCE. ViCE is a student-run organization that is responsible for bringing any and all forms of entertainment to campus, both small and large in scale. Throughout the year ViCE's seven committees work together to provide Vassar campus with weekly concerts, film screenings, comedy shows, dance parties, as well as major music concerts, all of which reflect the breadth and diversity of Vassar students’ entertainment interests. We both honor that diversity and strive to bring the community together. After all, ViCE is for everyone.
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