Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, shown here at the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, performed at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night. Photo by Francis Chung
Midway through her sold out set, Merrill Garbus posed an honest question from the stage: “How many of you are seeing us for the first time?” It’s a rough estimate, but a good third, maybe half, of the room had their hands up. She graciously thanked everyone and gave a shout out to NPR for helping people introduce them to her music. Then proceeded to knock everyone on their ass with an outstanding rendition of fan favorite “My Country.”
Making people do a double-take is nothing new to Garbus or the band she performs with. They’ve been selling out shows at various venues in town for the past year. Sunday night, tUnE-yArDs came through the 9:30 Club on a victory lap behind last year’s much-heralded w h o k i l l. Having toured extensively since dropping the album the songs are polished, experimental pop blasts. All but three songs in the truncated set came from w h o k i l l. The touring band behind Garbus—bassist Nate Brenner and a small horn section—was unmistakably tight. Now that the public has had a chance to sit with the album, Garbus’ personality, charisma and voice showed through the songs even more. Three-minute pop songs like “Es-So” and “Killa” were stretched into miniature jam sessions without feeling unnecessary. “Fiya” and “Real Live Flesh” — cuts from her BiRd-BrAiNs sessions — were volatile and showcased Garbus’ range musically and vocally.
The crowd was devoted to Garbus from the first notes of “You Yes You” and stayed inthralled through set closer “Jumping Jack.” They even summoned her out for an encore using one of her own tricks—the siren wail from “Gangsta”. Between the yelps of “You are a goddess!” and “We love you, Merrill!” were the exclamations of “I’m so glad you dragged me out for this!” and looks of “I don’t know what I’m watching, but I’m loving every second of it”. The feeling of shared joy was inescapable between the converts and the newly converted. It wasn’t a religious experience, but it felt like everything was in its right place.
