REVIEW: Brasstronaut @ The Rio Theatre

Opening up for Vancouver’s Brasstronaut was Útidúr (pronounced: ooh – detour), a ten-piece chamber-pop band from Iceland whose intensity should be bottled up and sold in stores.  During their roughly 45 minute set the following happened. (Please take into account that all this occurred while under the influence of PBR):

1. The drummer asked the audience to wish his friend a Happy Birthday via webcam and tried to locate his missing hat during a break between songs.
2. The female lead vocalist brought out a neon blue keytar device and started playing it like a trumpet.
3. The European beauty sitting beside me kept pressuring the entire row to dance at the most importune times.
4.  I realized the dude sitting to my right looked exactly like Where’s Waldo, (down to the striped shirt), and I spent the majority of the night trying to figure out if he realized his uncanny resemblance to the pop-culture icon.
5. During their final act the lead male vocalist started fast-rapping mid song.

With that being said, I don’t want to take away from Útidúr’s musical stylings, as their pretty impressive for a band that sings in a language completely foreign to my Albertan ears.  In actuality, they’re pretty fucking good. The vocals are impeccable, 9/10 band members could be models and they make you wish you’d stuck with high school band class.

Útidúr – Killer on the Run

Alright, before I continue on I have to say this…I love Brasstronaut and I truly appreciate the artistic integrity of their latest release “Mean Sun”.  However, if you’re under the age of 25 and have any desire to find a suitable mate for an intimate adult encounter, you probably shouldn’t attend a Brasstronaut show.  Why?  Well the audience on Saturday night consisted of music loving cougars, middle-aged yuppies and the occasional die-hard indie fan. While this made for a very entertaining evening, I knew most of the crowd would probably be going home alone.

Brasstronaut – Mean Sun

Regardless of that side note, they still kicked some major musical ass. Brasstronaut is one of those rare indie bands that make you realize just how hard making music is.  I’m guessing this has something to do with the fact that they bypass ever formula common to mainstream pop music and do something entirely their own.  This diversion from the norm not only makes for a wonderful live show but it also has the ability to take you places.  And even though the dude infront of me fell asleep halfway through their set, Brasstronaut is still one of my favourite Vancouver bands.

review by @clarkbs

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