My favorite from SXSW this past March, they are somewhat of a musical Charles Manson family. Minus the whole sadistic killing part. Buzz on them has sky rocketed, and I have been listening to "Home" all summer. (NPR is the best way to hear this song online for free) The concert sold out and word on the street (literally my roommate talking to people while she was on the street smoking) is that they might be in the next issue of Rolling Stone Magazine!
The first time I saw them, they overloaded the stage with something like 11 members. This time around they only had about 8. The leader a.k.a. the Happy Hippie Charles Manson is Alex Ebert- apparently an L.A. big deal. Before the show I was at Brooklyn Surf Bar (this bad ass surfer bar with sand covered floors -indoors and on the back patio- surf boards everywhere surfing pics and memorabilia covering everything). I spoke with an L.A. dude who used to play with his old band, Ima Robot. He told me that Alex Eberts family used to be (maybe still is) a big deal at Virgin Records, interesting info, although he had never heard of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
I am huge in to audience participation and the feeling of a crowd and this band always delivers. Between Alex Ebert's magnetism (his bouncing reminds me of trey- or maybe it is the fact that his bouncing makes the ENTIRE audience bounce in motion with him) and the blond chick with the behive playing the accordion or the xylophones to the bongo dude who LOVES his job to my fav- the girl who always looks like she is tripped out and danced around in long vintage dresses playing an ancient drum strapped to her stomach or a tambourine. They are beaming as they rock out and dancing with each other.
I was super impressed with the amount of work theyd put in in the last 6 months. Although I read that Heath Ledger funded the groups first recording sessions, post-sxsw show, two of the members told me SXSW was the first time theyd played together in front of an audience. BUT Sunday, they were totally together, songs were polished and I was loving it.
Pictures above from This website
FYI- the videos you can see of them online do not look good and do not do them justice.
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