Ready, Set...OK Go
November 19 at the 9:30 Club
I’ve had a musical epiphany, and I’m a bit behind on the curve on this one. Honestly, I’d never heard of this band until my buddy made me a mix cd and the song “A Million Ways” came on toward the end of the disc. It was the one song that made me nearly swerve off the road as I fumbled for the song list to discover it was by a band called OK Go. That’s all I knew of them when I went to see them at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night. I hadn’t even yet seen the now famous You Tube video for “Here it Goes Again” in which the band does a choreographed routine on a series of treadmills.
Arriving with no expectations, though a bit jetlagged having just stepped off a plane from California, I was happily surprised to find a colorful stage and an animated, talented bunch of musicians. OK Go is offbeat and their punk-inspired rock is solid, though they seem to have developed somewhat of a cult following not based on the music itself but from their stage antics and even more so from their silly dance routines circulating on the net. Live, they’re pure fun—from tossing tambourines and socks into the crowd to ending with a Devo-style dance routine in front of a huge video screen backdrop of singer Damian Kulash’s backyard, as his dogs roamed on and off screen.
The set featured songs from their two albums, a few from their 2002 self-titled debut and the bulk from their 2005 release Oh No, and a couple of covers, most notably one they dug up by the Electric Light Orchestra. Midway through the show, Damian with bassist Tim Nordwind and guitarist Andy Ross on a portable xylophone headed toward the back and performed a two-song acoustic set on a makeshift little stage, giving us folks in the back a prime view.
Recommended Beverage to go with this show:
a hoppy pale ale
I’ve had a musical epiphany, and I’m a bit behind on the curve on this one. Honestly, I’d never heard of this band until my buddy made me a mix cd and the song “A Million Ways” came on toward the end of the disc. It was the one song that made me nearly swerve off the road as I fumbled for the song list to discover it was by a band called OK Go. That’s all I knew of them when I went to see them at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night. I hadn’t even yet seen the now famous You Tube video for “Here it Goes Again” in which the band does a choreographed routine on a series of treadmills.
Arriving with no expectations, though a bit jetlagged having just stepped off a plane from California, I was happily surprised to find a colorful stage and an animated, talented bunch of musicians. OK Go is offbeat and their punk-inspired rock is solid, though they seem to have developed somewhat of a cult following not based on the music itself but from their stage antics and even more so from their silly dance routines circulating on the net. Live, they’re pure fun—from tossing tambourines and socks into the crowd to ending with a Devo-style dance routine in front of a huge video screen backdrop of singer Damian Kulash’s backyard, as his dogs roamed on and off screen.
The set featured songs from their two albums, a few from their 2002 self-titled debut and the bulk from their 2005 release Oh No, and a couple of covers, most notably one they dug up by the Electric Light Orchestra. Midway through the show, Damian with bassist Tim Nordwind and guitarist Andy Ross on a portable xylophone headed toward the back and performed a two-song acoustic set on a makeshift little stage, giving us folks in the back a prime view.
If you missed the show, NPR aired it and you can listen to the archived concert
SETLIST
The House Wins
Television, Television
Don’t Ask Me
No Sign of Life
A Good Idea at the Time
Here It Goes Again
You’re So Damned Hot
The Damned (cover)
[acoustic set]
A Million Ways
What to Do
It’s a Disaster
Oh No
Invincible
Don’t Bring Me Down (ELO cover)
Get Over It
Return
Do What You Want
Dance: A Million Ways [recorded version]
The House Wins
Television, Television
Don’t Ask Me
No Sign of Life
A Good Idea at the Time
Here It Goes Again
You’re So Damned Hot
The Damned (cover)
[acoustic set]
A Million Ways
What to Do
It’s a Disaster
Oh No
Invincible
Don’t Bring Me Down (ELO cover)
Get Over It
Return
Do What You Want
Dance: A Million Ways [recorded version]
posted by Dana @ 4:46 PM
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