Fall concert lights up with OK Go
OK Go headlined the Student Events fall concert last Saturday
OK Go, everyone's favorite Grammy and Webby award winning band, put on what can only be described as a spectacle unlike anything seen before at Brandeis in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center last Saturday night. Complete with confetti, lasers, lights, handbells and more, the band from Chicago by way of Los Angeles performed a 19-song set to an energetic crowd of dancing and singing students.OK Go was founded in 1998 when singer Damian Kulash and bassist Tim Nordwind, who were old friends from camp, met drummer Dan Konopka at college in Chicago. The band's former guitarist, Andy Duncan, had been friends with Kulash and Nordwind in high school, though he left the band and was replaced by current guitarist Andy Ross in 2005. OK Go's self-titled debut album was released in 2002, with the hit "Get Over It." The video for "Get Over It," which featured the band performing the song in a recreation room with shots of spilled milk, a Cadillac and other lyric-related images spliced in, received some airplay on MTV.
The band has since become famous for its creatively zany, viral music videos that have taken YouTube and the Internet by storm. While the band gained a great deal of fame for its performance of "Here It Goes Again" on treadmills, OK Go's first live dancing video was performed for the song "A Million Ways," which featured the band performing a dance choreographed by Kulash's sister in Kulash's backyard. Since their self-titled debut in 2002, the band released Oh No in 2005 and its most recent album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, this year. The musicians have filmed videos with a massive Rube Goldberg machine and have been shot with paint for "This Too Shall Pass" and have most recently performed with trained dogs in their video for "White Knuckles." Kulash said in an interview with the Justice that the band thinks of these videos as short films, while many other bands, directors and producers treat music videos like commercials for songs. They proved on Saturday night that their live performances are just as enjoyable and entertaining as their distinctively creative videos.
The Postelles opened the night with a unique-yet-familiar brand of pop rock. Hailing from New York City, the band has been aptly described by BlackBook Magazine as having a "Monkees-meets-Strokes sound." And in fact, as BlackBook goes on to say, guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. of the Strokes produced "roughly half the tracks on [The Postelles] self-titled debut album, out this October." The band melded influences ranging from punk rock to Buddy Holly and even Woody Allen into an accessible, danceable sound. The Postelles paid homage to punk rock influences with a cover of "Beat on the Brat" by the Ramones. Other highlights from their set included the catchy, guitar-riff-driven "Sleep on the Dancefloor," the especially danceable "Can't Stand Still" and the band's best-known song, "White Night." One cannot ignore the fact that the Postelles' stage presence left a little bit to be desired, as the singer seemed to be the only one moving. While the band's music stuck to somewhat predictable chord progressions and major keys common in pop rock, the crowd enjoyed the set, and the Postelles proved to be an effective opener.
Audience members waited eagerly for OK Go to take the stage after the Postelles' set, cheering, clapping and attempting to perform the "wave" with mild success, as cued by Student Events members. As giant images of paisley patterns were projected onto the wall behind them, the band walked onstage to goofy music made just an hour before by Kulash on his new iPad and were met with roaring applause and cheering, with each band member wearing a one-colored suit and dress shirt. OK Go opened its set with the high-energy, guitar-driven "Invincible," off of its 2005 release Oh No. Multicolored confetti rained down on the stage and on the audience, fired from two large cannons at the rear of the stage.
The first part of the band's set included such highlights as the funky "A Million Ways." Kulash invited any audience members who knew the dance to "A Million Ways" to perform it onstage, and though no one was up to the task, the audience participated in the performance in other ways throughout the set. During the popular rock song "Here It Goes Again," the band brought up one lucky audience member, who was introduced by Kulash as Alex, to play guitar with them.
The band brought out a table of handbells for a quieter, beautiful performance of "What To Do." This song showcased the talent, musicianship and versatility of the band, as it sang in harmony while playing handbells. Next, Kulash came out into the middle of the crowd to perform a solo acoustic rendition of "Last Leaf," standing on a box and turning around in the middle of the song to face the other side of the audience. After taking the stage again, Kulash and the rest of the band performed the older but still-strong hit "Don't Ask Me," followed by another old favorite of many OK Go fans, "Get Over It." After a few new songs from their most recent album, the band closed with "This Too Shall Pass," which proved to be an excellent live song with its audience-friendly sing-along lyrics and melody. Brandeis students quickly learned the words from Kulash and sang along joyously into the microphone as Kulash held it over the barricade at the front of the stage.
After leaving the stage at the conclusion of "This Too Shall Pass," the members of OK Go returned in new suit jackets with lights on their backs to spell out "OK GO." Turning around to reveal light-up guitars adorned with fur, the band went into a rendition of "WTF?"-a bold move for an encore, as the song is in the irregular meter of 5/4. After the ethereal "Skyscrapers," the band ended the night with the crowd-pleasing rock song "Do What You Want."
Kulash has cited influences as diverse as Prince, Fugazi and more, which was evident throughout the night in the wide range of genres and performance techniques used by the band. Some students may find OK Go's music too simple or perhaps too complicated, too mainstream or even too alternative. But whether you are a hardcore metal enthusiast, a classical music aficionado, a Soulja Boy fanatic or something in between, OK Go has something for you in its live shows. The concert on Saturday night was an undeniably enjoyable display of creativity in music performance.
Editor's note: Justice arts editor Bryan Flatt is a Student Events concerts coordinator.
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