by Roy Scopazzi
The idea of a concert being dreamlike is a kind of cliche at this point, right? I’ve been to plenty of shows where there are funky props and weird lighting effects that give the idea of “Dreamlike” as in “Ooooh, weird things are happening and funny colors are all over the place”. The otherworldlyness functions to make the concert experience separate from the real world and to transport the audience. I can say with a good amount of certainty that caroline at the Great American Music Hall is the closest Actual dreamlike show I’ve been to in a long time.
Musicians are on stage but their roles are ill defined often, slipping in and out of the shadows as my subconsciousness tries to form what they sound like in a cacophony of very loud bass and off tempo instrumentals which also clash with the vocals. It’s certainly hard to recommend even if I loved every second of it, I showed my father one of their previous shows only to be told it sounded like they had just met and started playing out of nowhere together. The idea of describing them feels like I’m describing a very pretentious art project that is only for “High Minded Music Elitists” who look down upon Lesser Music Fans but I want to say that anyone can enjoy them, even if I might be lying to myself.
Joshua Chuquimia Crampton opened the show. One half of Los Thuthanaka, his abrasive guitar playing was both extremely loud but also comforting as each note was pulled and amplified to it’s unnatural peak, feeling like a constant guitar solo from deep inside his subconsciousness.
