Grandparents @ Mississippi
Joined by XDS and Grapefruit
Mississippi Studios hosted quite a show Wednesday night featuring Grandparents joined by XDS and Grapefruit. T 2000 he night was full of experimental music with a weird trippy twist; I mean that in the best way possible of course.Once I walked into the area where the show was going to be held I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a projection set up behind the stage. I’ve always felt that weird images flashing and colorful lights always added a little bit to shows. Once it was a little after 9:00pm the show started without any introduction.
First up was Grapefruit with a slow smooth electronic beat which changed to a much faster pace as the song went on. Grapefruit is new band from Portland that has only been around for about six months or so. The one band member, Charlie Salas-Humara, has been playing music for years. Grapefruit has an album out called Time Drips which was released in April of this year. The band’s sound has a lot of psychedelic undertones to it, which was even more noticeable because of the projection behind the stage. The projection was a mix of colors, geometric shapes, human figures, eye balls, as well as a couple more random images. The music that Grapefruit produced was already on point and was getting people moving but the projection took it to the next level in my opinion. It helped put the crowd in a mini trance while listening to the synthesizer keyboard, drums, and guitar that was played.
After a short break to set up, XDS took the stage. Formally known as Experimental Dental School, XDS is a two person band, Jesse Hall and John Rau. They became a duo in 2008 after moving to Portland. This band has played over five hundred shows all over the world. Using a synthesizer keyboard, guitar and percussion instruments, XDS played upbeat experimental music that got the crowd jumping and dancing. The duo had fantastic energy together and that was contagious to everyone else in the room. One of the songs played was about the running man dance, which we were all encouraged to do, and some did, which made the evening even better. During the band's last song, when the crowd finally moved to the front of the stage, with a little encouragement from the band, the use of cow bell permeated the venue with its unique sound and abundance throughout the song.
Grandparents played last, much to many audience's delight. Formed in 2009, Grandparents, who are native to Portland, are a five person band including: Marc Christiansen, Dylan White, Ben Johnson, Allison Faris, and Will Fenton. Keeping with the trend of the night Grandparents’ sound was a mix of sonic experimental, psychedelic, and folky all at the same time. It was upbeat music that got the crowd moving with unique vocals and rhythms which kept them listening. The members of the band all seem to know how to play multiple instruments due to the fact they “played musical chairs” almost after every song. This was really fun to watch and see the amount of talent that each person had throughout the whole set. Last night was the first time that Grandparents had merch for sell at their show which included clothing and posters. Grandparents have steadily been producing albums since they started in 2009. The band’s latest album is called Bitches, which came out June of this year.
The night was full of unique experimental music which is always refreshing to hear. The audience seemed to agree with me considering the show ended with many happy faces and energetic people. I would call this night a success for all the bands involved as well as for the audience getting their synthesizer keyboard fix.
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