February 26, 2010

When Classical Met Indie Rock

It’s hard to know what to make of Thursday's concert at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Was it a classical music event that featured The Dodos? Was it an indie rock concert with the Magik*Magik Orchestra? It was just this ambiguity, this realm that falls somewhere between modern classical and indie rock that was probably the goal of the Magik*Magik Orchestra, and their director, Minna Choi. These boundaries don't always mean as much as we think they do.

The show opened with an experience associated with the rock world. You walked into the grand, open foyer and immediately scented the air fragrantly filled with pot. Not a little bit of pot, a lot of pot. Definitely not the typical classical music crowd.

Looking around, I noticed the audience was remarkably young for a classical concert, but about right for the indie rock crowd. The room was filled with that mysteriously elusive age 20-30 demographic that classical organizations search for so desperately. Here they were, sitting around chatting, drinking, all very excited for The Dodos. Many even skipped Magik*Magik’s opening set.

Then there was the “shush”-ing, almost a combat between people who were convinced this was an event at which it was OK to talk, and the people for whom this was a time for quiet. No one really knew what was appropriate, and even later in the evening during The Dodos' set some people were hushing others. Clearly, this was not your typical indie rock crowd, either.

Magik Trick

The Magik*Magik Orchestra opened the show with five incredibly well-chosen pieces (props to Minna Choi). In conversation with one of the performers, she pointed out that the indie rock crowd could easily relate to the set. David Lang’s Anvil Chorus is an extended drum solo, Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel (in a cello and marimba version) is easily related to the music of bands like Sigur Rós. The Five Bagatelles of Carl Vine reminded me of Keith Jarrett’s (jazz) improvisation concerts. Even the highly experimental music of Luciano Chessa felt spiritually related to Dream Theater and Gong. The final piece on the set, written and performed by Choi with special guest John Vanderslice, was, in essence, a ballad in a style easily understood by everyone. It was an exciting and energizing first section of the concert.

But I don't think the entire audience noticed or cared. Many of them seemed not to hear these relationships between what they typically listen to, and what was going on onstage. I wonder if more care could have gone into encouraging the audience to listen to the music, perhaps an explanation before each of the pieces. Sure, that’s not typical performance practice in either circle, and I wouldn’t even necessarily talk about the music in a typical manner, just say something as simple as what I just did and point out the musical relations to more-familiar bands. This audience needed more help to experience the actual music, rather than the idea of new classical music.

Classical music can defeat itself with its own name. The audience, apparently, was so focused on appreciating the classical aspects of the program that they failed to fully appreciate that it was aimed specifically at them, made to cater to their tastes. A chance to really open doors between genres, to show the true relations between genres, to truly show the cross-pollination that comes with globalization, was lost. Or maybe a small inroad was made.

Dodos Hit the Ground Running

Then The Dodos appeared, and I began to understand the event. Suddenly the audience went wild. What was polite applause with some youth behind it turned into the wild screaming of a rock concert. Suddenly the foyer, so full for the first section, was I’m sure, close to empty. This is what the crowd was here for. A large part of the crowd did not see this concert as a collaboration, but as the Magik*Magik Orchestra opening for The Dodos, like lesser-known, small-time, or student bands open for headliners.

It was, I admit, a slight blow. I was there to see how these worlds could interact, and, at this point in the concert, I saw that, while they might be able to, The Dodos' fans did not really care. To them, Meric Long, Logan Kroeber, and Keaton Snyder were the sole reason they were there.

Live, they are quite the powerhouses, assaulting the audience with much-longed-for backbeats and exquisitely beautiful vocal lines. The acoustics of the hall were perfect for them, allowing the audience to clearly hear the details of their music. They played a decent-size set, including numbers such as “Trades and Tariffs,” “The Ball,” and “Fools.” While The Dodos are not my favorite band normally, seeing them live was an exhilarating experience. Their music breathed more, and was less incessantly insistent. There was a lot to be heard here and it was presented incredibly well.

Now here was the make-or-break moment for me. We had a “modern classical” set and a Dodos set. In the third set, the two combined. The Magik*Magik Orchestra played the music of The Dodos with The Dodos. This would show whether the concert was a brilliant integration, a true meeting of worlds.

Sadly, for me, that's not what occurred. The Dodos played their regular tunes, while the orchestra sweetened the sound with string tricks and an excellent mini-choir. While many of the orchestrations were excellent (again, props to Minna Choi), I didn’t experience a true integration. This was The Dodos with strings, not a meeting of minds. In fact, despite the sometimes elegant orchestrations, the orchestra tended to hold the trio down.

It was a wonderful idea, a great concept, but for my taste the classical music portion of the program felt too much like an opening act. I was hoping for classical music fans to hear something in indie rock, and for indie rock fans to hear something in classical. Instead, the event felt like two, or even three concerts forced together.

That said, to me, as a hard-core modern classical fan boy, and an avid indie rock listener, any dialogue between the two genres is a great thing. If even one indie rocker came to the show and heard Lang, Vine, Chessa, or Golijov and now has a desire to hear more, then the event was, I believe, an unmitigated success. I am sure that occurred, so all I can say is “Bravo Minna Choi, bravo Meric Long, and bravo Magik*Magik Orchestra.”