Sadre Malerche - Sondre Lerche @ Iota (10/26/04)
(pronounced Sadder Malarky meaning Sadder Malarkey than Bull Malarkey)
Sondre Lerche had people lined up around the corner...the only problem is that they were lined up to get their flu shots following a concert where infected Sondre Lerche coughed, hacked and crooned his way through a set of originals featured on his 2 albums + EP. To get a feel for the performance, I've included a post performance discussion which actually took place.
Below is a real conversation provided to me by friend J and C.
C: how was sondre lerche?
J: um, pretty bad :-P
C: figured
J: the winner of Norwegian Idol, or possibly runner-up. It didn't help that 3/4ths of the show was solo w/acoustic guitar interspersed with lengthy euro-english one-way monologues
C: really?
J: yes - he had no band, but finished with about 4-5 songs with the opening band - the almost-competent Golden Republic from Kansas City.
J is exaggerating slightly - The Golden Republic was so far from competence that "almost competent" would be like the Libertarians winning the presidency in the upcoming election. Their set included 2 Matchbox 20 sound-a-likes followed by a pseudo-new wave followed by a Franz Ferdinand sounding fiasco. J. commented that a couple times he thought they were going to bust into something good, but then "they didn't." Even triter than their musical tripe was the attempted awkward banter where the lead singer asked a Snow (Informer) look-a-like if his name was Dennis. The lead singer found this question to be most humorous. When nobody laughed, he explained to everyone that the guy had a jacket on that read "Dennis." The patron politely said, "No, I got it at a vintage store." The singer exalted that he loved vintage stores and Snow immediately removed the jacket. This led into G.R.'s next forgettable song, which led me to wonder, "Is there anyway I could have extended that conversation to prevent them from performing..." I pinched my cheeks in time to the rhythm...I really had to go.
Sondre came out looking as sickly as he claimed to be. I worried for the pale, greenish boy...and then looking around at the closed room filled with people I worried for the rest of us. At the time I didn't understand why 1) he was playing such a small venue, and 2) he wasn't going to sell out. The answer came upon hearing the first song. People saw him live before and they weren't going to be fooled again. (As an aside I mentioned to J. at the concert how much I would love 227 superstar Jackee to say his name like she'd say her own name,"Saaaaaaaaaaaandra" in the TV show.) The other unfortunate aspect of the concert was the endless ramblings that didn't make any sense between songs. Such Two Way Monologues made him come across as a cross between a street performer and a crazy homeless person.
I need to flashback to earlier in the evening when J. and I were eating dinner at Iota and I commented to J., "I am so happy to be here...I mean to see Sondre play live in such a small venue is really quite cool!" I am declaring that the music (Sondre's not the Golden Republic's) wasn't bad. In fact, on CD I love it! Sondre sang well except that due to the illness he wasn't able to get the high notes and they were often a little off pitch. It just didn't translate to a boy and his guitar. One of the main strengths in Sondre's music lies in the interesting harmonies and background music. He truly writes beautiful music, which made the experience all the more disappointing. The final 1/4 improved for me when The Golden Republic stepped in as his back up band, filling in the missing pieces as adequately as they could. Unfortunately, given that G.R. had a captive audience for the first time in their careers, they took it upon themselves to rock out unncecessarily. At one point, Sondre promised that the next song would not end with rocking out, but it was a lie. Highlights of the evening included "On The Tower," "Two Way Monologue," "Maybe You're Gone," and "Track You Down." "Sleep on Needles" could have been okay if he didn't sing the whole song 1/8 pitch flat.
Sondre definitely needs studio production, which for a singer/songwriter, doesn't seem necessarily positive.
Sondre Lerche had people lined up around the corner...the only problem is that they were lined up to get their flu shots following a concert where infected Sondre Lerche coughed, hacked and crooned his way through a set of originals featured on his 2 albums + EP. To get a feel for the performance, I've included a post performance discussion which actually took place.
Below is a real conversation provided to me by friend J and C.
C: how was sondre lerche?
J: um, pretty bad :-P
C: figured
J: the winner of Norwegian Idol, or possibly runner-up. It didn't help that 3/4ths of the show was solo w/acoustic guitar interspersed with lengthy euro-english one-way monologues
C: really?
J: yes - he had no band, but finished with about 4-5 songs with the opening band - the almost-competent Golden Republic from Kansas City.
J is exaggerating slightly - The Golden Republic was so far from competence that "almost competent" would be like the Libertarians winning the presidency in the upcoming election. Their set included 2 Matchbox 20 sound-a-likes followed by a pseudo-new wave followed by a Franz Ferdinand sounding fiasco. J. commented that a couple times he thought they were going to bust into something good, but then "they didn't." Even triter than their musical tripe was the attempted awkward banter where the lead singer asked a Snow (Informer) look-a-like if his name was Dennis. The lead singer found this question to be most humorous. When nobody laughed, he explained to everyone that the guy had a jacket on that read "Dennis." The patron politely said, "No, I got it at a vintage store." The singer exalted that he loved vintage stores and Snow immediately removed the jacket. This led into G.R.'s next forgettable song, which led me to wonder, "Is there anyway I could have extended that conversation to prevent them from performing..." I pinched my cheeks in time to the rhythm...I really had to go.
Sondre came out looking as sickly as he claimed to be. I worried for the pale, greenish boy...and then looking around at the closed room filled with people I worried for the rest of us. At the time I didn't understand why 1) he was playing such a small venue, and 2) he wasn't going to sell out. The answer came upon hearing the first song. People saw him live before and they weren't going to be fooled again. (As an aside I mentioned to J. at the concert how much I would love 227 superstar Jackee to say his name like she'd say her own name,"Saaaaaaaaaaaandra" in the TV show.) The other unfortunate aspect of the concert was the endless ramblings that didn't make any sense between songs. Such Two Way Monologues made him come across as a cross between a street performer and a crazy homeless person.
I need to flashback to earlier in the evening when J. and I were eating dinner at Iota and I commented to J., "I am so happy to be here...I mean to see Sondre play live in such a small venue is really quite cool!" I am declaring that the music (Sondre's not the Golden Republic's) wasn't bad. In fact, on CD I love it! Sondre sang well except that due to the illness he wasn't able to get the high notes and they were often a little off pitch. It just didn't translate to a boy and his guitar. One of the main strengths in Sondre's music lies in the interesting harmonies and background music. He truly writes beautiful music, which made the experience all the more disappointing. The final 1/4 improved for me when The Golden Republic stepped in as his back up band, filling in the missing pieces as adequately as they could. Unfortunately, given that G.R. had a captive audience for the first time in their careers, they took it upon themselves to rock out unncecessarily. At one point, Sondre promised that the next song would not end with rocking out, but it was a lie. Highlights of the evening included "On The Tower," "Two Way Monologue," "Maybe You're Gone," and "Track You Down." "Sleep on Needles" could have been okay if he didn't sing the whole song 1/8 pitch flat.
Sondre definitely needs studio production, which for a singer/songwriter, doesn't seem necessarily positive.
posted by Schitzo at
1:24 PM
