Monday, March 10, 2008

CONCERT: Pleasant surprises sure are pleasant

This weekend I had the chance to see Tally Hall play at the Velour in Provo. It ended up being kind of a last minute adventure, so we actually walked in just as they were about to go on - hence, we didn't get to see any of the opening bands. Sorry local music buffs.

Well, having never listened to Tally Hall that much before I didn't know what to expect, and judging by the largely high-school crowd that appeared to be there, I honestly wasn't expecting too much. Happily, I ended up being pretty surprised. Before they came out they had a quirky music video/novelty show/early '90s commercial montage playing on a projector that was pretty entertaining, though just a little bit long (we started to get a little confused toward the end of it - wondering if this was actually the show). But once they came out in all their multi-colored-tie-glory they got right to it- putting on a good 'ol rock and roll show, full of hook-filled melodies, '60s-pop harmonies, Weezer-esque guitar solos, songs about bananas and spot-on instrumental performances. I'll vouch for the fact that they really are extremely talented musicians, and entertainers in every sense of the word - delivering every song with just enough wit to keep me smiling along with them. And they just look like such nice young men to boot (I'm fairly certain that there were several pre-teen girls there who thought the same thing).

Some highlights of the night included their rendition of Fatboy Slim's "Praise You", which was rather remarkable. Toward the end of their set they announced, "this is our last song, and then we'll play a two-song encore"- which made me smile. For the encore they had everyone in the venue sit down as they moved to the middle of the floor, and played the two songs completely acoustic. This definitely had the aforementioned pre-teens swooning. To their credit, the full-house was totally silent as they played these painfully pretty unplugged ditties, even integrating a gong at the end of one - definitely bonus points in my book. After this pre-announced encore, the crowd wasn't going to let them off so easy, and they came back out to play an ode to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen as well as a near perfect full-length-and-then-some version of Freebird. I know what you're thinking, and yes, the solo was spotless.

So all in all, Tally Hall puts on just an all around fun show. It was just fun. And to be honest, just to be able to scratch "hearing Freebird live" off my list of life goals, I at least owe these guys an Oreo-shake or something.

from the album Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Amazon/iTunes)


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

the more pressing question is the level of spotless on the mary kate/ashleyccolade. there are some things that just warrant a certain level of perfection, this being one of them. I miss your face tobler-one

Anonymous said...

that should say accolade, but i like how it may be used as a blend word now