Beirut, with Helado Negro, at Palace Theatre, St Paul (23 Feb 2019)
|
Beirut at Palace
|
Indie rock/world music band Beirut just headlined the Palace Theatre in St Paul on Saturday, February 23rd.
The show started with Helado Negro (stagename for Roberto Carlos Lange), playing as a trio with violinist/multi-instrumentalist Angela Morris and saxophone player Nathaniel Morgan. Each person wore a color, Morris in red, Lange in yellow, and Morgan in blue. The stage lighting also corresponded with each section of the stage, giving off a sense that it wasn’t just a concert, but also as an art piece.
After saying, “hola!” and introducing himself, Lange fondly remembered the last two times he was in the city, at the Northern Spark Outdoor show in 2016 and Ordway Concert Series in 2015 (which we covered both shows). He seemed to be enjoying the Minnesota area, despite being the “snowiest month” (since December 2010) in Minnesota.
Most of Helado Negro’s strict 40-min set were songs in Spanish, and most of his set were brand new songs from his forthcoming album This Is How You Smile (out March 2019). New songs included “Running” (which needed audience participation) and “Seen My Aura” (which had a long story about how it was taken from an idea and book that meant a lot to Lange).
The band ended their set with “Young, Latin and Proud” and mentioned that they had a very long drive ahead of them, stating it will take them 27 hours.
It’s been seven years since Beirut played the Cabooze (July 2012)… so there were a lot of eager old fans very excited to hear some of their old favorite Beirut songs played live. In fact, many old (forgotten) songs were greeted with loud cheers from the audience (“Varieties of Exile”, “No No No”, “Postcards From Italy”, etc.) and can be heard pretty much throughout the band’s set. It’s clear that fans really missed Beirut.
Since the band’s music requires a variety of world music and instruments and sound, the group is rather large, consisting of band leader Zach Condon, trumpeter Kyle Resnick, trombone player Ben Lanz, drummer Nick Petree, bassist Paul Collins, and keyboardist/accordionist Aaron Arntz.
If you’ve never heard of Beirut, their music is inspired by traditional sounds of Spain, Italy, France, and, of course, Lebanon (being named Beirut and all)… but as if it’s written for pop radio.
Condon rarely said a word through their 100-min set, instead letting his music speak for him. For example, the new single “Gallipoli” (the title track from their fifth studio album) played mid-set, was the name of the Italian town where the song was written.
The show started with Helado Negro (stagename for Roberto Carlos Lange), playing as a trio with violinist/multi-instrumentalist Angela Morris and saxophone player Nathaniel Morgan. Each person wore a color, Morris in red, Lange in yellow, and Morgan in blue. The stage lighting also corresponded with each section of the stage, giving off a sense that it wasn’t just a concert, but also as an art piece.
After saying, “hola!” and introducing himself, Lange fondly remembered the last two times he was in the city, at the Northern Spark Outdoor show in 2016 and Ordway Concert Series in 2015 (which we covered both shows). He seemed to be enjoying the Minnesota area, despite being the “snowiest month” (since December 2010) in Minnesota.
Most of Helado Negro’s strict 40-min set were songs in Spanish, and most of his set were brand new songs from his forthcoming album This Is How You Smile (out March 2019). New songs included “Running” (which needed audience participation) and “Seen My Aura” (which had a long story about how it was taken from an idea and book that meant a lot to Lange).
The band ended their set with “Young, Latin and Proud” and mentioned that they had a very long drive ahead of them, stating it will take them 27 hours.
It’s been seven years since Beirut played the Cabooze (July 2012)… so there were a lot of eager old fans very excited to hear some of their old favorite Beirut songs played live. In fact, many old (forgotten) songs were greeted with loud cheers from the audience (“Varieties of Exile”, “No No No”, “Postcards From Italy”, etc.) and can be heard pretty much throughout the band’s set. It’s clear that fans really missed Beirut.
Since the band’s music requires a variety of world music and instruments and sound, the group is rather large, consisting of band leader Zach Condon, trumpeter Kyle Resnick, trombone player Ben Lanz, drummer Nick Petree, bassist Paul Collins, and keyboardist/accordionist Aaron Arntz.
If you’ve never heard of Beirut, their music is inspired by traditional sounds of Spain, Italy, France, and, of course, Lebanon (being named Beirut and all)… but as if it’s written for pop radio.
Condon rarely said a word through their 100-min set, instead letting his music speak for him. For example, the new single “Gallipoli” (the title track from their fifth studio album) played mid-set, was the name of the Italian town where the song was written.
Gallipoli is out now on 4AD.
Remaining tour dates:
02/26/2019 – Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre
02/27/2019 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
02/28/2019 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
03/02/2019 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
03/30/2019 – Berlin, DE @ Funkhaus
03/31/2019 – Berlin, DE @ Funkhaus
04/02/2019 – Brussels, Belgium @ Forest National
04/04/2019 – Groningen, Netherlands @ De Oosterpoort
04/05/2019 – Paris, France @ Le Grand Rex
04/06/2019 – Cologne, Germany @ Palladium
04/08/2019 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Tivoli Vredenburg
04/10/2019 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
04/11/2019 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Town Hall
04/12/2019 – London, England @ Eventim Apollo
04/14/2019 – Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
04/15/2019 – Munich, DE @ Zenith
04/18/2019 – Milan, France @ Alcatraz
04/19/2019 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Volkshaus
02/27/2019 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
02/28/2019 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
03/02/2019 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
03/30/2019 – Berlin, DE @ Funkhaus
03/31/2019 – Berlin, DE @ Funkhaus
04/02/2019 – Brussels, Belgium @ Forest National
04/04/2019 – Groningen, Netherlands @ De Oosterpoort
04/05/2019 – Paris, France @ Le Grand Rex
04/06/2019 – Cologne, Germany @ Palladium
04/08/2019 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Tivoli Vredenburg
04/10/2019 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
04/11/2019 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Town Hall
04/12/2019 – London, England @ Eventim Apollo
04/14/2019 – Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
04/15/2019 – Munich, DE @ Zenith
04/18/2019 – Milan, France @ Alcatraz
04/19/2019 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Volkshaus
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beirut at Palace Theatre, St Paul (23 Feb 2019) |