[Photo by Megan Barron. See her Flickr stream here]
It is a not-uncommon trope on this site that bands tend to give it their absolute best when playing their first Bowery Ballroom show – it’s a big moment for any band, and the venue itself is nearly perfect – spacious yet intimate, welcoming, and outfitted with an excellent sound system. Maps & Atlases took full advantage of their breakout moment this Tuesday night, as they played an outstanding set to a welcoming 16+ crowd fueled more by the band’s incredible music than the typical NYC crowd’s favorite combo of alcohol and smartphones. In note-perfect form the band covered the best material from their first full-length, Perch Patchwork, as well as classics from their EPs like “Ted Zancha,” “Artichokes” and “Everyplace Is A House.” Maps don’t sound like any other band out there today; vocalist/guitarist Dave Davison’s voice remains in a class by itself, and their unique, polyrhythmic rock could probably wow a class of music students as easily as it did this young Bowery crowd. That uniqueness may have been an impediment at first, but people are clearly “getting it” now. It doesn’t hurt that their live show is a bit of a contrast from their more lo-fi sounding albums; turned up loud, their music is more celebratory than it seems on a scratchy EP, and more importantly, live, you just cannot miss how dialed-in these guys are as musicians. That was best in evidence during an epic seven-minute version of “Daily News” from the You Me & the Mountain EP, a mostly-instrumental track that was perhaps the strongest song of the night. The band also gave us a rare treat by doing a cover song (not part of their usual repertoire, other than their cover of Cast Spells’ “Glamorous Glowing”), a short, faithful rendition of Elvis Costello’s “Radio Radio”. While there was no post-show acoustic set from the floor like there was at the intimate Mercury Lounge show last year, this set still outshone that one. It kind of had to – it was their “Bowery moment.”
Kenny, the regular sound engineer at Bowery Ballroom, truly outdid himself this evening with a flawless mix. While the Mercury show also included a soundboard feed, the sound quality of this set, with the Schoeps microphones running into a custom built analog preamp, is better than that one, in my opinion. Enjoy!
Stream “Daily News”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/M2180M&A0210/16 Daily News.mp3]
Stream “Radio Radio”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/M2180M&A0210/20 Radio Radio.mp3]
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]
Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].
Maps & Atlases
2011-04-19
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA
An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Equipment: Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Balcony, LOC, mics on clamp extended toward soundboard, DIN
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks [Total Time 1:01:25]
01 Pigeon
02 The Sounds They Make
03 Artichokes
04 [tuning]
05 Israeli Caves
06 [banter]
07 Ted Zancha
08 [banter]
09 Will>
10 The Charm
11 [banter]
12 Witch
13 Everyplace Is A House
14 Living Decorations
15 Glamorous Glowing [Cast Spells]
16 Daily News
17 [banter]
18 Solid Ground
19 [encore break]
20 Radio Radio [Elvis Costello]
21 If This Is>
22 Was
If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Maps & Atlases, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Perch Patchwork from their official store here.
Goodness, you outdid yourself again with this one! Awesome work!
Thanks! Great band.