Show Review: Zola Jesus @ Red 7 (02.03)
After a dreary and wet Tuesday, there was a last minute change in venues and door times from The Mohawk, but if anything, this seemed to draw more people to the warmth and comfort of Red 7. The eclectic hodgepodge sound of opener Deradoorian served as an interesting juxtaposition to the drama of Zola Jesus‘ pop music.
Read on to see how the night unfolded and see some pics from the ever talented B.Gray.
The change in door times seemed to work for the benefit of L.A.’s Deradoorian; pushing back the set times allowed for quite a large crowd to gather to watch Angel Deradoorian, accompanied by her sister, perform their looping magic. You may know this lady from her time with The Dirty Projectors, or as a member of Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, but last night she was there to give the crowd a taste of her own work which is comprised of intricately crafted pop tunes focused around the epic vocals at their core.
Let me just say that I have a love/hate relationship with loop pedals and looping in general: half of the time I’m impressed by what an artist is able to do with simple riffs coming together, and the other half of the time I feel that this can only go so far, leaving the sound a little one dimensional. So when Deradoorian first began, I tried to keep an open mind, letting their careful construction of different elements–percussive and electronic– build up. However, it was a bit of a rough start for the band, as the looping effects prompted a few snafus that took them, as well as the crowd, out of the music. The duo hit their stride halfway through their set, but I was left a little longing for a full band. The sound itself was interesting, but this kind of music doesn’t translate well to the live setting and is better experienced at home.
Even more people gathered for the headliners, and greeted Zola Jesus with great enthusiasm and cheers abundant. Nika Danilova later acknowledged that she’s played Austin what seems like a billion times, and the crowd welcomed her as though a hometown act. She didn’t fail to bring the energy you would expect from her dark pop tunes, flailing around the stage, whipping her hair violently along with the live band and singing from seemingly everywhere at Red 7. Her motions made her disappear and reappear quickly in my line of sight, giving her stage presence a mystical aspect quite apt for her music.
The live percussion added an extra umph to the music to transform it from the record to the live setting– the pounding drums along with Danilova’s powerhouse soulful vocals were audibly striking and transfixed the audience. Before the encore, the frontwoman moved into the crowd, encouraging the energy and taking advantage of her lack of instrument to get people involved. Sometimes this act feels starch and dialed in, but in this case natural, unexpected and exciting. While not all members of the ATH crew were quite as transfixed by the dark and glossy pop of the evening, I found myself quite onboard with what Zola Jesus was dishing out.
