Source: Starworks // By Jennifer Manel
It was a dark and stormy night outside of (Le) Poisson Rouge, the bone chilling weather was befitting for the occasion. The wind carried the shrieks of anxious girls waiting in line in hopes to get close enough to the stage to see two actors belt out tales about zombies who hunger for love, who’s hearts are not eaten but broken and pirates who are all but bones, floating on paper ships, dreaming of ladies unknown. I’ll admit. I was one of them. Well, one of the first girls in line. Tickets to this spooktacular event were general admission and I have not even dared to go to a general admission concert since I was in high school, so, I was not sure what to expect. I say that scared me the most. Ghosts, I can befriend. Zombies, I might just have an eerie fascination with. Screaming fangirls? Well, to me, they are the scariest creatures of them all. Even the venue wasn’t sure of what to expect due to the sheer mass of phone calls and e-mails of people hoping to score tickets to none other than Dead Man’s Bones. A gothic doo-wop eclectic mixture, whose first album, (produced by IMA ROBOT’s Tim Anderson) should be the soundtrack for Halloween (who isn’t sick of hearing monster mash playing on repeat during the season anyway?). Dead Man’s Bones is fronted by actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields.
My bright red umbrella was not only used to shield myself from the rain and heavy wind, but to shield my face due to the sheer embarrassment of being the second person in line. The first person being my new found friend Haley who, like myself, has a love for all things macabre. She was also anticipating a long line starting very early in the day for the 7:30pm curtain call. Naturally, any girl would be excited to be the very first few people in line, and while we would deny this fervently to anyone who happened to notice us on the streets, our souls started to ignite with a mixture of curiosity, fright and undeniable anticipation.
On the back of their CD (released via ANTI on October 6th), I noticed they had imprinted in the background the phrase “NEVER LET A LACK OF TALENT GET YOU DOWN!” and I whole-heartedly agree. I believe that is what made me most anxious to actually be able to review and see this concert because it seemed that these two were making music because they had a strong love for it, it was their way of having fun and collaborating with children and adults alike who felt the exact same way as they did.
(Le) Poisson Rouge suited the vibe of the band in every way. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by darkness,the occasional red lights provide enough illumination to see your way around which presents an eerie yet artsy sophisticated feeling. The medium sized stage seemed to fit every thing that the Dead Man’s Bones came with, which included various different instruments and a small set of bleachers for the children’s choir. The backdrop was a hand painted haunted house with tombstones on display out front, the dark lighting and the haunting glow that the backdrop resonated quickly set the tone for what was to come. The crowd outside swiftly shuffled in and it wasn’t long before the opening act started, a local talent show. The MC was dressed as a ghost in a white sheet and donned a cowboy hat as he announced each talent. Finally, it was time for Dead Man’s Bones to take the stage.
The ghastly MC announced the band as both Zach Shields and Ryan Gosling came up to the stage, Shields on percussion, Gosling on an acoustic guitar, as the ghostly cowboy broke into his own rendition of Hank Williams “Ramblin’ Man”. The audience cheered as the children’s choir single filed onto the stage, adorned in white hooded robes with a black heart sewed on their left chest and their youthful innocent faces were painted black and white to resemble that of a skeleton. Their choir director was even aptly dressed in a black hooded robe with gloves that resembled skeleton hands. Each city, Gosling and Shields handpicked either a local children’s or gospel choir to perform with them, a headache of a task if you ask me, but they explained that the children’s choir was their main focus on the album so a concert without them would not be the same! True that. Midway through the show, Gosling explained that the New York City choir had canceled last minute and that the St. Peter’s Children’s Choir from Philadelphia (who were set to sing the next night) were nice enough to ride there to perform. These timid talented cuties quickly warmed up to the crowd before them. It was awe-inspiring and heart-warming to witness Gosling and Shields continually look back and give the children cues for when they needed to sing or if they wanted them to display more emphasis in the chorus, something the choir director could have handled but the guys humbly made sure that the children showed off their vocal talents. There was even a solo sung by one of the children of the choir, Hannah, who could easily put a lot of the female artists today to shame.
DEAD MAN'S BONES
ALL GOOD THINGS
BLUE VALENTINE
