Grizzly Bear & Beach House @ Bowery Ballroom (Night 2): Superheroes

Grizzly Bear completely restored my faith in moody, delicate and meaningful indie rock last night at Bowery Ballroom, for the final gig of their North American tour.

Grizzly Bear's 75-minute set far exceeded my incredibly high expectations. The band not only covered Crystals' classic 'He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)' but even threw in such treats as Yellow House highlight, 'Plans', which frontman Ed insisted the band rarely plays live anymore.

The entire show felt extraordinarily surreal. All in attendance were wholly transfixed during the set, evident by the total lack of hecklers and the delay in applause until the very last note of each tune was complete.

Predictably so, the biggest cheers of the night were for singles, 'Knife' and 'On A Neck, On A Spit'. The latter of which closed the main set. Two minutes later Grizzly Bear broke into a beautifully mellow one-song encore (whose name escapes me, can anybody help out?).

About midway through the set, Ed shared with us how in DC (at the Black Cat), some inebriated fans were shouting 'Spring Break!' during one of the band's Walkmen-esque new tracks, and so, from now on that will the new title for the song. Oh, drunken college students.

Overall, a thoroughly thrilling set. I think what I love most about Grizzly Bear is that their songs are performed so smoothly, and the build-up of each track captures you, as if you were at a Mogwai show. Yes, I'm comparing Grizzly Bear to Mogwai. Both bands engage their audiences like very few bands can.

Setlist: Easier/Showcase/Lullabye/Little Brother/Service Bell/Knife/Final Round/Colorado/He Hit Me/Plans/Fix It/On A Neck, On A Spit//(Encore)

MP3: Grizzly Bear - On A Neck, On A Spit

In addition to Grizzly Bear, Papercuts and Beach House, respectively, played earlier in the evening. Sadly, I missed all of Papercuts (sorry guys!) but did manage to catch most of Beach House's set.

Beach House's live show is a mellow one, to say the least. The band consists of two members - frontwoman/vocalist Victoria and her sidekick, Alex. I wish I could say I enjoyed their set, but honestly, nobody pulls off this type of raw/raspy-yet-stunning female-fronted sound better than Cat Power, and perhaps that's the way it needs to stay. Not that Beach House's set wasn't entertaining, but something was lacking, and I'm not sure quite where. Judge for yourself, at Beach House's official site.