Concert Review: Beirut @ Turner Hall Ballroom Milwaukee – 11.30.11

[photos CJ Foeckler]

words by: Abby Locken and Marta Fieweger

According to the one and only Webster’s Dictionary….

ORGY: a wild party, esp. one involving excessive drinking and unrestrained sexual activity. In example: he had a reputation for partaking in the occasional drunken orgy.

HORNGY: a wild party, esp. one involving an exotic ensemble of horns, various wind instruments and unrestrained (yet refined) percussive activity. In example, Beirut.

Yes, a horngy. Our friend coined that word, and we got permission to use it. Though the definition of “horngy” is lacking in direct mention of sexual activity, there were definitely many in the crowd that were hot for the horns that took over Turner Hall.

Beirut, also known as Zach Condon and the five-piece brigade of instrumentalists, opened with what can only be described as a “musical gypsy bullfight”, one of layered horns and percussion, instantly moving the audience into motion.

The flow of the accordion and the bright, brassiness of the horns were set off by simple lines of stringed lights, giving the music-goer a feeling of back porch lingering, Parisian street wandering, and Mexican fiesta partying all at the same time. Intimate and exotic.

Elephant Gun started the horns off with a harmonious yet almost formidable trumpet duet, capturing and entrancing simultaneously. Majestic horns are offset by the tinkling xylophone and consistently light beat of a tambourine. The strength of the songs were infused with the worldliness of Condon’s previous musical and life experience, combined with the delicate aspect of appreciation for life and its fragilities, creating an undeniable breadth of sound.

In contrast to this seemingly perhaps trite review, Beirut exemplifies a genuine passion, history and cultural amalgamation of music, one that delivers a sort of stimulating albeit melancholy hope to its listeners. Although Condon dropped out of high school, the European endeavors and life experiences that followed garnered an understanding of the world that surpasses the clutch of any classroom walls, as evidenced by the realm of depth and emotion crammed in to the blaring brass and the thud of the bass-drum.

Has this review been corny? Oh yes. But guess what? Happy breeds happy. Just like the drummer donned a smile on his face nearly the entire concert, the audience absorbed the same potentially annoying yet genuine energy. The songs let you feel the melancholy ache and recognize the hauntings of human kind, but also get feet tapping, heads nodding to the beat, and hearts opening up to the hope that hides in an uptempo beat. The song Goshen exemplifies this completely – although the tune and lyrics are decidedly downcast, the entrance of the velvety brass and the rising steady beat of the snare conjure up a sense of strength and confidence that made the crowd sway.

Just as Condon sang in East Harlem, one of the last songs of his first set prior to the encore, “another rose wilts in east harlem; uptown downtown, a thousand miles between us,” the band pulls together opposing ideas, people, and sounds to create something that could take on a cacophonous sound, but instead formulates a pretty fucking ribbon rainbow of music.

The pieces of Beirut – the distinctive, bowing melody of Condon’s voice, steady and stuttering beats, and the amazing act of “horngy” – create a controlled calamity of sound that left us wanting more than the 80 minutes played. When a crowd begs for more tuba solos, it’s apparent that the horngy frenzy has hit.