Monday, September 12, 2011

Rah Rah smash The Mod Club (Sept. 8 '11)

Rah Rah have been a delight every time I've seen them so I was excited to discover they were warming up the Said the Whale crowd. Off the top the sextet got The Betrayal Pt. 1 out of the way with the most fun a betrayal ever has. The arrangement saw women on drums, keys and accordion/violin, while the guys were more traditionally posted on a couple electric guitars and a bass. This wasn't to last much beyond Henry and Tentacles though. Following the drumming-on-the-speaker slow-down of Beaches the rotation began; bass to drums to keys to bass. The drummer-turned-keyboardist with the large quaff of hair also picked up vocal duties on the tired/sleep lyrics of Salty Cities that approached proggy territory on the outro. Another song with a strong ending came next in Duet for Emmylou before the keyboardist returned to her original post and added vocals to My Guarantee, while the multi-talented drummer now slipped a bass over her shoulder. It didn't end there either, for those of you keeping score at home the female violin player then took the keys and lead vocals for What About Love while the the key lady grabbed keys of a different sort - synths. Next was a slightly odd interlude where the dude on drums led a call and response about all the bands playing that night (I say - you say) followed by Ghosts. More swapping saw the lineup close to the same as off the top but with the lead male vocalist doing a turn on bass. It worked for Arrows, which prominently featured the violin in a great way. All of this to say the band is dynamic.
To add to this they tossed massive R A H balloons into the crowd to be batted around under a blast of confetti (something to do with Hollerado in the crowd?). There was a joyful feeling as they carried on with an instrumental intro to Breaking Hearts then stormed through Cuba/Peru in finale. It was a smash just like the pinata they destroyed during it. The band is so upbeat, so multi-talented and so much fun! Every time I see them is a joyful experience.

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