Ava Luna/Magic Wands – The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY (May 16, 2012)
I like Magic Wands’ new album Aloha Moon, but my attendance at the Knitting Factory (aka the “Knit”) this evening was all about getting a live peak at the fabulous Ava Luna. Rather than the traditional headliner/opener format, Magic Wands and Ava Luna sort of shared the bill as both sets were of more or less the same length (with Ava Luna clocking in at a song or two longer than their bill mates) – Ava Luna took the stage first though.
Ava Luna
Anything seems possible right now in the Brooklyn indie/alt rock music scene – case in point, Ava Luna. Ava Luna is more or less a quartet of extremely soulful singers backed up by a rock band. The soulful singers are made up of the band’s front man Carlos Hernandez, Becca Kauffman, Felicia Douglass, and Anna Sian (who conspicuously didn’t attend the show). Hernandez maintains the strongest vocal presence and possesses a seriously funky/soulful voice – upon first croon, I instantly thought Daryl Hall. The two female singers, Kauffman and Douglas, were also quite strong, however, and together they produced a fascinatingly fresh R&B sound that eclectically rocks thanks to its supporting cast. The cast includes an amazing, technically proficient drummer (probably trained to play jazz), who spent just as much time aggressively tapping on the side of the snare and his knee than on the actual pad – this in combination with the synths, keys, bass, and guitar provided by both Kaufman and Hernandez created a pleasingly wide-ranging, fantastic live set.
The band’s rousing performance of their repertoire (they mixed it up with tunes from their new album, Ice Level, and previous recordings) employed a soulful vibe, playfully interrupted with abrupt starts and stops, guitar distortion, cool synthesized sounds, syncopated beats alongside some aggressive marching band-style drumming. The entire set added up to a mish mash of styles, but the wonderful harmonizing of the three singers kept the diverse musical ideas cohesive and balanced. The show began with both Kaufman and Hernandez generating distortion from their guitars with the drums and bass wailing around them for a few moments after which the group settled into a smooth, soulfully sung tune. The best moment by far, however, was their closer and single from the new disc, “Wrenning Day,” offering a fascinating back and forth between the male and female vocals while establishing a collective harmony to end the song and the set. As Ava Luna is a pretty popular Brooklyn band they were among friends at the “Knit”, so once they finished packing up their gear, they slid into the crowd to shake hands, have a beer and check out Magic Wands.
Here is a performance of “Wrenning Day” from last November.
Magic Wands
I enjoy much of Magic Wands’ new album, Aloha Moon. The mood, style, and cover of the album evoke a pleasingly quirky Elvis’ Blue Hawaii dosed up on punkish surf music aesthetic. Unfortunately, although there were certainly some interesting high points during the show, I was pretty disappointed with the band and its performance – based on my satisfaction with the new album, I expected much more. Magic Wands is basically a twosome – Chris and Dexy Valentine, who both play guitar, but on Aloha Moon they offer a distinct electronic-backed sound. So when any trace of keys and synths were curiously missing from the stage after they set up their equipment, I was concerned. Alas, it was clear they were pulling a “Sleigh Bells” upon taking the stage with only the duo, a bass player and drummer and pre-recorded electronic sounds immediately emerged and persisted throughout the entire set. The show clocked in at just around 40 minutes and eight songs, but I would have preferred a fuller set in which they performed Aloha Moon in its entirety. To their credit, they did attempt to recreate the spooky tropical island vibe found on Aloha Moon’s cool cover with bluish lighting and Hawaiian leis adorning each microphone.
The band’s performance in general, excluding a handful of notable exceptions, was sadly uninspired. After the opening two numbers in which singer Dexy Valentine’s vocals were completely undetectable, the third song in the set and title track of the album, was noteworthy featuring twangy guitar, driving bass, and a much stronger singing performance than on the first two songs. Other intriguing moments were “Black Magic” and “Kiss Me Dead” featuring a stirring harmonica during the bridge. The set ended strongly with the best song on the new album, “Space.” I thought the bass player (apparently not an official member of the band) was actually the strongest performer of the four musicians during the entire set and his work made the final number a definite standout. The bass line was really strong, establishing a surf-punk vibe, reminiscent of Agent Orange, but Dexy’s aggressively whinny vocal evoked Social Distortion. They aired the jam of this song out for several minutes past its studio length, but when it ended the band abruptly left the stage leaving comparably little to elevate the total quality of the set. I like Magic Wands, they have some awesome songs, but they could do much to make their live show better.