Violin, Trumpet, Clarinet, Tuba, Banjo, Harmonica, Pot and Pan, and drums bass guitar= Great show Olivia Tremor Control!

There's probably instruments I forgot to mention in the title list. Incredible show from one of the founders of the Elephant 6 Collective (the other two are Neutral Milk Hotel and the Apples in Stereo, if you don't know about them you can check out www.elephant6.com, an unofficial homepage with all kinds of links and info). There are so many great bands in E6 (Elephant 6 Collective, just in case the abbreviation confused) that you could wonder how they all became part of it. With a meager amount of research you'll come to this conclusion: Olivia Tremor Control are some of the greatest recruiters anywhere. Coincidently, they're also a great band. I was looking forward to the show last night, I went in with high hopes (and a slightly ridiculous wish that Jeff Mangum also appear and sing a couple fo my favorite NMH songs) and was blown away. Listening to an album you can kind of write off details at points, you hear so much going on and can assume that it might sound different live, that it might sound simpler. Not so with OTC (abbreviating once again). Seven performers and not one seemed to be an extra. Most played multiple instruments and at least four of them sang, sometimes in unison. I can't explain how great it is to see a band play and sound so fantastic blending guitars, bass, and drums with clarinets and various horns and violins and so on. Instruments played with drumsticks that are not drums. This is not some inaccessible art-rock, this is very catchy indie rock with some inaccessible qualities made accessible to all. Or to most. Or to those with good taste in music. They played a splendid set that went by quick but was actually somewhere around 1 1/2-2 hours. I didn't time it, but roughly. Looking around at the crowd was looking around at a sea of smiles. They play once again tonight at Great American Music Hall (like last night) and if at all possible see them. I don't think it was sold out last night, which is amazing because indie music today owes a lot to this band. It's a shame I didn't write this immediately when I came home last night (this morning technically speaking) but I was far too tired and wanted a small amount of sleep before work. Great band, great show, great night. Highly recommended.