tUnE-yArDs @ Lincoln Hall

tUnE-YarDs
Where: Lincoln Hall
When: May 10th, 2011
Grade: 5 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Bri LaPelusa

"Whoa," is all I can say about tUnE-YarDs’ recent powerhouse performance at Lincoln Hall.  Well alright, I guess I can say a bit more…

The moment Merrill Garbis stepped onstage, dressed in tribal face paint, a body-length necklace made of yarn, and big, brightly colored tulle sleeves, she demanded undivided attention.  The audience collectively fixed their anticipatory gaze on the singer as she shyly tuned her miniature guitar and warmed up her voice. Apparently recognizing the attention she’d garnered, Garbis apologized for her understated entrance by saying, “I feel like coming out in an outfit like this, I should immediately start [performing], but here I am…tuning.”  Nonetheless, the command of her voice resonated against a booming drum loop the instant she opened her mouth — sending a musical introduction nothing short of spectacular, permeating the venue and building.

Since this is the mostly solo project of Garbis, she performed a majority of the songs without backup; layering complex sounds over vocal loops created live and on the spot. Standing in the center of a one-woman drum circle and knocking drumsticks against everything from her mic stand to her own body, she seamlessly delivered one goosebump-inducing song after another. 

The audience was very involved in the sold-out show, and Merill stopped at one point to show her appreciation by saying, “I dream about audiences like you.”  She grounded us further in the performance when she interrupted a favorite song of mine from her first album, “Fiya,” to ask everyone to press their iPhones and flip cameras to their hearts and tell themselves “I’m not gonna live it through a lens this time, let’s do this together."  After playing a more than satisfying set of songs from both tUnE-yArDs albums, she blew kisses to a thunderously cheering crowd and disappeared behind the curtain for a brief moment before returning to the stage, bass and saxophone players in tow, for a two-song encore.  She closed the entire performance with the electro-fueled “My Country,” ending on the chilling lyrics “The worst thing about living a lie/is just wondering when they’ll find out.”

I fell in love.