Brightest Young Things

So, this is to serve as both a review and a preview as The Dodos are back in DC this Friday, for the second time in one week, opening for Les Savy Fav.
I also have no photos, since no one wanted to shoot this on a Sunday but I am not going to let that stop me from spreading the gospel.
And you should definitely read this.
The whole thing.

Now, I have been hearing stories about their miraculous live shows for months and having missed them last time they were in town (with Subpop's Jennifer Gentle, also at DC9) I jumped at the chance to see them at (probably the last time) a more intimate venue than the mainstage at the Cat is, even if it meant powering through a show on a Sunday night.
These kids are going places, if you didn't hear already.

So, here goes:
We arrive at 8:30 which is when the doors are supposed to be opening (I am prompt to a fault). I hear the Caribou show got cancelled and am secretly hoping more people will show up but even an hour later (the doors are still not open, and the bands are only now carrying the equipment in, which, quite excitingly for me, includes more instruments than there are people to carry them) the room is still pretty spare, and some under age kids are turned away, quite literally halving the attendance on the spot.

Bottles and Cans open. They're local. They're so young, the singer has Xs on his hands. They have bronchitis. They also play really loud (the sound guy obviously loves them), almost classic rock that needs some polishing but has overall potential and, which for some unknown reason, prompts some kids to jam band dance.
(even though the Widespread Panic show is tonight and not then)
Haley and I are tired and not prepared for any of this.
So we get some beers and power through it.

Next band starts setting up:
Silje Nes...I've read about how haunting and stunning this Norwegian girl's music is and just watching her and her cohort set up makes us grin ear to ear. The drums are really low. They sit really close to each other. She is really, really beautiful, and has a really, really soft voice. He has a whole factory of adorable little instruments he whips out (every time I see a melodica it makes my night). It is all suprisingly accessible and relaxing, and even though the sound at DC9 is not doing them any favors, Haley and I have giant grins by the time the last song comes on we just look at each other as they look at each other and simultaneously say:
"I just hope they're in love in real life".

Look this band up.
(Learn to) Love it. (more)

By now the crowd is decent and as the Dodos start setting up we start getting sort of giddy with excitement (we are also drinking a Sparks which is a bad idea because it is 11 pm on a Sunday, and we have jobs we have to wake up for).
But I mean, come on: a xylophone, a baby piano, a tambourine being attached to someone's foot!
You would get excited too.

Now, for the uninitiated, The Dodos are two dudes (who were looking way too young to be that amazingly capable and tasteful to me on Sunday) from San Francisco (I mean,their previous album included a song called "Horny Hippies") who just released "Visiter" on March 18th and are sort of experimental folk rock?
With a dash of that jam band new primitivism fun that makes you love Yeasayer so much right now?
(I am really bad at classifying)

The short story is: they are AMAZING.
They sound like a full freaking orchestra exploding before your very eyes, something I'd even call Sufjanesque at the most searing moments.
Only there's only two dudes (I said that before, I know, but it's worth repeating)
There is the drums (and that foot attached tambourine which should really be utilized more often in other bands) and there is an acoustic guitar and some dude named Joe plays the aforementioned xylophone and baby piano and bangs this hollow basket and drinks beers off stage during the songs he is not part off.
I mean, what is not to love?
NOTHING.
Meric Long plays the guitar like a banshee, furiously and intently, though never abusing the instrument for a second (rule number one during lesson number one of acoustic guitar playing: treat the strings tenderly, don't pull at them) and I have not heard drums sound as melodic (I know, its an oxymoron) like when Logan Kroeber attacks them.

We were so hypnotized that not even the jam dancing kids (which made a return after exiling downstairs during the Silje Nes lullabies) could ruin it for us.

If you missed them on Sunday,
miss them this Friday at your own peril.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
• 2/7: LiveDC: Augustana/ Graffiti6 @ 930 Club
• 2/6: LiveDC: All Things Go Presents: Reptar/ Casual Curious/ Fort Lean @ Gibson Guitar Showroom
• 2/6: LiveDC: TYCHO/ Beacon @ RNR Hotel
• 2/6: LiveDC: The Kills / Jeff The Brotherhood @ 9:30 Club