Review: Sleigh Bells at the Ogden, 04/13/12

Eric Gruneisen

Elite Gymnastics last night at the Ogden Theatre.

Before Sleigh Bells's set, Elite Gymnastics and Javelin got the night started. The former opened with a decent concept that was marred by poor execution. No one can say they weren't warned, though: "This is going to be different than you expected, even if you've never heard us before. Bear with us." That's how Elite Gymnastics introduced themselves. And indeed, the act appeared on stage with its own "karaoke" set up, where the words were projected onto a screen behind, along with video of birds flying at sunset.

The problem was, it was too much like real karaoke -- the delivery was off tempo and sung poorly. The act lost additional points for using Autotune ironically -- or at least we hope it was ironic, otherwise...nevermind...it's better to try and forget. And the group's shortcomings were only amplified by the impressive set by Javelin that followed.

Eric Gruneisen

Javelin last night at the Ogden Theatre.

While Elite Gymnastics' percussionist could barely hold onto his sticks and spent more time off rhythm than on, Javelin's George Langford wailed away on electronic drum pads, triggering a Keith Moon-esque barrage of banging drums, offering a much needed palate cleansing. Not too mention, it was a lot of fun.

Surprisingly, Javelin had more pop in its live set is than its recorded output. The outfit has put out some weird stuff (check out Canyon Candy, for example, a simultaneous homage to the styles of both Ennio Morricone and Jimmie Rodgers), but you wouldn't know it if you only heard the group live. Javelin is signed to Luaka Bop (David Byrne's label), and its live show definitely contains hints of the Talking Heads, Of Montreal and some Men in Hats (in a good way). It's upbeat and infectiously catchy.

Eric Gruneisen

Javelin last night at the Ogden Theatre.

Oh, and ballsy. Out of nowhere, Javelin kicked into remixed covers of "Sabotage" (Beastie Boys) and "A Milli" (Lil Wayne) -- the latter closed out the set, drawing uproarious approval from the crowd. Tom spit Weezy's verses at about 75 percent speed over the top of an unrelated bunch of chopped up mariachi band samples. This being Javelin's first time in Denver, Tom Van Buskirk (the other half of the duo) joked about how they have oxygen waiting for them in the wings in case they blacked out.

Personal Bias: I think Treats is a better album than Reign of Terror.

Random detail: During a break between songs, Tom from Javelin randomly asked whether anyone from Rhinoceropolis was in the building. Someone raised their hand. There was no further explanation. Also, before the show started people had been lined up hours in advance for seemingly for no reason. By 8:30 p.m., there was only a small crowd inside standing around listening to a Mariah Carey CD. WTF?!

By the way: R.I.P. Jim Marshall. After Javelin's set, someone from the crew came out and yanked a sheet off the stack of amps that serve as the backdrop to Sleigh Bells. It was a dozen giant Marshall amps. (One of them could've been a refrigerator in disguise though.)

Location Info

Venue

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Ogden Theatre

935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO

Category: Music

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