Grimes at Basilica Hudson: Recap and Photos

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Last night was my first visit ever to Hudson, and I can’t wait to go back. I stopped in at the Spotty Dog and it ended up being trivia night, which was really neat because the quizmaster put us on a team right away and we got to play a round, while enjoying a Souther Tier Pumking and eating some pita bread and hummus. Their space is really incredible and I hope someone rips off appropriates the idea and puts a bar in a non-standard bar atmosphere somewhere a bit closer to home.

After getting a tiny bit familiar with Warren Street, we made our way over to Basilica Hudson for the show. Myths and Elite Gymnastics opened for Grimes and while Myths was interesting to watch, neither me or the crowd were really feeling the tunes the way we all were once Grimes began to play.

Elite Gymnastics recorded material is a masterpiece compared the performance last night, in which James Brooks mostly told the sound guy how to mix the backing track and his vocals, and told the lighting guy what lights to use. The ‘performance’ could only be considered such if it was a three-song-long performance art piece detailing mans struggle to tame his own technology. Also, it was during this set the lovely lady standing in front of me had deemed me and my friend Meg “the two most pretentious people on the face of the planet” based on our commentary. Score.

Myths, which sounded like a blend of Bikini Kill and Sleigh Bells definitely out-shined Elite Gymnastics, despite playing before him. It was a strange blend of drone meets synth-pop but was entertaining to try and figure out what was going on while it was happening. The silly outfits also added a few more things to try and figure out. I feel as if these two acts were just a tad too experimental for a crowd who went absolutely apeshit once Grimes played something that was actually danceable.

I had only seen Grimes ‘live’ once before, via online streaming, so I was really excited to catch the whole thing in person. Her performance last night, which included both girls from Myths as backup vocalists and musicians, was much more polished and the material sounded exactly as it does on the album. Grimes’ voice live has a much warmer quality than it does recorded and sounded even better in person. Her performance was spot on, sounded incredible and was really quite fun. The sound at Basilica Hudson was impressive for being just a huge room. You could feel the bass in your stomach up front, and still have it come through in the back of the room.

If you haven’t been to a show at Basilica Hudson you really do owe it to yourself to visit. I can’t wait to go back to Hudson for more than a night.

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