Scenes From Last Night's Blonde Redhead Show At Trees.
Good things come to those who wait, and New York “indie-gaze” trio Blonde Redhead's set at Trees on Wednesday night testified to that truth: Over the course of this band's more than two active decades, its beauty has at times been overlooked — but, on this night, it couldn't be.
Onstage, any doubts to this band's greatness wash away like laundry. Part of this is due to the band's unique transporting abilities: Outside of Trees last night, it could have been 3 in the afternoon or 4 in the morning, or perhaps even early fall instead of summer; inside, the band's blend of ethereal guitars and haunting melodies opened up an immense landscape to get lost in.
A minimal drum loop that morphed into the title track from last year's Barragan LP welcomed the small but dedicated audience as the trio found its place on stage. Onward and into droning of “Lady M,” everything just sort of fell into place: As Italian-born twins Amedeo and Simone Pace backed singer Kazu Makino's distinct vocal harmonies with both live and sampled sounds, they performed a variety of songs from across their catalog, ranging from “Bipolar” off of 1998's Fake Can Be Just As Good to the beloved “23” from the 2007 album of the same name.
With the band's music swirling about and washing over the room, these headliners' main set felt at once mesmerizing and life-affirming. Even after an almost hour-long display, it felt too short, too — something even the band was willing to concede by offering up a 20-minute encore in response to their more-passionate in-attendance fans' mind-numbing screams for more.
The wait for that encore, thankfully, wasn't too long. Here's hoping the wait for the next one won't be too long either.