Brandt Brauer Frick
Luckman Intimate Theater
Nov. 12, 2011
There is nothing worse than paying to go to a concert where the performers play off their Mac Book Pros for an hour and a half. Luckily, this was not the case for the German trio Brandt Brauer Frick (named for each of the members, Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer and Paul Frick) who played a phenomenal set on Saturday night at the Luckman Intimate Theater on California State University, Los Angeles' campus.
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The small theater that Brandt Brauer Frick played in was one of the
smallest concert venues I have ever been to: it seats around 300
people. It's normally used for
plays, dance and visual arts, which meant that there were no crazy light
shows, lasers, dancers or any other kind of distraction on stage. It
was the boys and their instruments only, which really showcased their
musicianship.
Once the show started, the crowd that was made up of less than one
hundred people were in awe of how into it the musicians were on stage.
Opening with the song “Bop” off of their newest album Mr. Machine had
everyone in the room dancing, bobbing their heads and wiggling in their
seats.
The problem with seeing electronic music live is that usually what
you're hearing doesn't coincide with what's happening on stage. This,
however, was not the case with the Brandt Brauer Frick. As the Germans
moved around like mad scientists on stage, they made love to the
keyboard, electric drums and synthesizers making it entertaining to
observe their every move.
As the set continued the band made the experimental, avant-garde and
strange noises magically mesh into an organized conglomeration of
excellent sounding music. The tribal sound of the drums mixed with hints
of classical and electronic beats were unlike anything I have ever
experienced musically. Fighting the urge to get up and dance was near to
impossible, and by the end of the set several people had their own
dance party going on in the corner of the theater.
The only thing I have to complain about was that the band didn't play
longer. As soon as the last song was being played was when people
started to get up and dance. Aside from that the sound, the intimate
venue and the crowd made for one hell of a show.
The Crowd: Very diverse, both young and old people were there.
Critic's Bias: I missed Brandt Brauer Frick at Coachella this year because
I got in too late. Instead I went to the main stage because it was the
most convenient, and the band performing at that time sucked.
Overheard In the Crowd: “They can't be over after only an hour?!”
Random Notebook Dump: I have never seen a group of musicians look more like mad scientists in my whole life!
Setlist:
Bop
Iron Man
Melancholie II
Mi Corazon
Papparazzi
Corky
Lost in the Pile (BBF Remix)
R.W. John
