Under Byen with El Perro del Mar & Frida Hyvönen @ Boston MFA

Was lucky enough to have front row seats for one of the coolest, but definately the most strange/unique/trippy, shows I've ever been to. The friend who accompanied me to the show ended up describing Under Byen (pronounced Ooo-naah Boo-in, Danish for "under the city") as an "emotional Danish jam band" for lack of better descriptors, but I don't think he is that far off. They've been labeled "post-rock" band and the band describes itself as a rock group using anything but guitar (including two drum kits and, to my delight, a saw!). I've also heard them often called a louder Sigur Ros or Bjork, which you can probably attribute to their use of Danish, rather than English, in their songs, which read like poems.

Tindrer	Sparkles
Vi tindrer, vi raser	We sparkle, we rage
Vi gløder vi	We glow... we
Falder ikke til ro	Do not calm down
Slår os ikke ned	Do not strike us down
Vi er gale	We are crazy
Og fine	And fine
Skøre som glas	Fragile as a glass
Som parfurmeret papir	As a perfumed paper
Vist	Aparently
Vi mister	We lose
Hinanden	Eachother
Og kan ikke klare det	And cannot handle it
Og kommer aldrig over det	And never get over it
Fortabes	Forfeited
Begraves	Buried
I fremmede byer	In foriegn towns
Men husk vi er stadig i live	But remeber we are still alive
Vist	Apparently
Er vi det	Are we it

But it is band's live performance that really seperates Under Byen from their Nordic contemporaries. The projections seemed almost like a Marimekko kalidoscope on acid, every loud note of percussion would bring a flash of the strobe and while the band members weren't playing, they were either absolutely still or silently rocking out in their own little world. However you characterize the band, the combination of the moving projected visuals and stobe light timed perfectly to the music and the theatrics surrounding the whole performance made for a very cool and special experience.

These videos from other Under Byen concerts can give you a small sense of the multi-dimensional performance.

"Samme Stof Som Stof"

"Pilot"

Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see El Perro del Mar, but did make it in time to see fellow Swede, Frida Hyvönen. She was decent, but not as good as her in-studio albums, however her stage presence was rather uncomfortable. Blogger Data Jockey at sickoffood.com has a good reveiw of both and nails Hyvönen spot-on.

If you can imagine Rita from Arrested Development playing the piano, well - I checked out the mens room and the merch table during her set. For real - “This is a song about poodles” which was actually about crickets and split ends.

The moral of the story is, stick with the CD for Frida Hyvönen, but if you have a change to see Under Byen play live, definately take advantage. They will blow you away.