Familiarize Yourself

Friday night I ventured out on the red line and over to The Metro to see European based Zero 7 touring their fourth studio release Yeah Ghost. I arrived in time to see Brooklyn’s Body Language, which turned out to be a much more sensual experience than I expected. The crowd wasn’t exactly what I was thinking it would be either, usually The Metro is filled with other students around my age, but Friday it was flooded with adults in their late thirties and the young crowd was sparse and scattered trying to see around men in business attire clutching their girlfriends and expressing worse public displays of affection than tweens on drugs.

As I made my way to the back, and away from the crowd I found a nice place where I could clearly see the stage. The set change took longer than I would have anticipated, and I was ready for the show to start. Moments later there was a dramatic display of white and purple lights blinding the audience and the eruption of electronics. More euphoric than glitchy electronic, I was impressed with their start. I was unfamiliar with the band, having only heard their track from the Garden State sound track, “In The Waiting Line.” Their sound was different than what I expected but I really enjoyed their downtempo feel.

I didn’t recognize many of the tracks, having just started listening to them several days before, but there were some obvious crowd pleasers and the hormonal parents out for their monthly getaway went wild. The couple standing next to me kept sloshing their drinks my direction and more than once I had to dodge their beer and erotic dancing. One of the most enjoyable factors of the show was the versatility of musicianship and the way there was more than one vocalist. The three singers took turns on songs, sang some duets and complimented each other.

While the show was a different experience and I enjoyed the music, I think this is a band for my record player and living room with candles lit, rather than cramped into a venue. It’s the kind of music you want to relax to and sit among good company. For more checkout www.myspace.com/zero7official.

Enjoy.