Tegan & Sara @ the Berklee Performance Center, Boston
November 25th, 2007 - by Eddie
*That’s right…Tegan & Sara covered Rihanna.
Half-way through the third song of Tegan & Sara’s set I realized something: I like this band. I mean, I really like this band. And it’s not just because their cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was inspiring. In all honesty, their show was the closest thing to perfection I have ever seen and, keep in mind, I entered the show feeling neutral towards Tegan & Sara.
I’ve listened to the new album, “The Con”
But there I was, enraptured by the Canadian lesbian twins, grooving to their songs and laughing at their on-stage banter.
A couple weeks back, Dave posted a Reader Request about bands and their onstage personalities. With Tegan & Sara, you got the impression that there was no stage personality, that they were like this for real. And they were hilarious.
“We love it when the front row is into it,” said Tegan. “I mean, there are two types of front rows. There’s the one that’s totally into it, yelling Tegan! Tegan! TEGAN! TEGAN! and I’m still talking and…”
“It’s like when we were kids…do you remember when we were kids?” interjected Sara. “When mom would call us down saying ‘Teeeeegan’ Teeeegan’ and when we had to clean out the litter box it would be louder…you remember, right?”
Here’s where Sara went on the first of her many digressions, forcing Tegan to stare at her, almost mentally saying “Shut. Up.”
Sara eventually got to the point (kinda, but not really) and Tegan went on with hers.
“So…yea, thanks for that Sara. This is already going on longer than I wanted. I just wanted to tell the story and introduce the song. Anyway, so there’s the litter box front row…”
“Did we just call them shit?” asked Sara.
“And there’s the other front row,” ignored Tegan. “The one where people are leaned back, arms crossed and looking like this. It’s as if they were just let out on parole and, as a stipulation, they had to see a Tegan & Sara show.”
Laughter erupts. I smile. Then I uncross my arms and throw them in my pockets, hoping no one saw.
This is how it went during the start of the concert, indirecting introducing a song and then playing it. But eventually, the duo just launched into indie-rock robot and busted through four songs, as if time was a factor for them (and, it being the Berklee Performance Center, it probably was).
Sara still allowed her personality to shine through. During one song, Tegan started it with a steady beat from the…um, it’s that thing that looks like an egg and it sounds like there’s rice inside of it. You know what I’m talking about (OK, I’m starting to sound like Sara). Anyway, Sara bobbed her head during the intro causing Tegan to spit out “You’re making a mockery of our band.”
But it’s more than just good interaction with the audience or the fact that their performance was engaging (notice I didn’t say flawless). They were honest and in a world of computer-generated music and digitally synthesized vocals, that goes a long way.,
Take “So Jealous,” a fan favorite and a song that the duo just couldn’t get started right. It got so bad, they just stopped and eventually Sara said “Let’s just go to the part where I change.” And they did. Sure, the song didn’t sound like it does on the album, but people don’t go to concerts to hear the album played back to them (something some bands/artists still haven’t grasped). They go for the experience, to see their favorite singers and gain a glimpse into the personalities behind the music they love.
Tegan and Sara did this and their show is something that should be witnessed by music fans everywhere…especially if you like a little bit of musical joy in your life and appreciate interesting covers like the one featured above.
Other videos from the show
“So Jealous” (with the mess-up)
June 4th, 2008 at 3:33 am
[…] […]