Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Live Review - HOB Cleveland

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros frontman Alex Ebert often claims he’s trying to evoke his inner child in his music. And last night, the raucous audience at House of Blues felt the kiddie vibes, jumping around like a bunch of toddlers on a sugar high.

Sneaking joints instead of candy, the crowd of twentysomethings danced around with abandon, not noticing when mops of hair scratched their neighbors and certainly not hesitating to gyrate right in front of one another to get to the middle of the action.

The ten-member band started the set with “Up From Below,” the title track of their 2009 debut album, and continued with “Janglin.” Jade Castrinos, who shares lead vocal duties with Ebert, serenaded a woman and her baby on stage, explaining it was a song for kids.

Throughout the night, Edward Sharpe played most of Up From Below, plus a couple of new tunes. One of them sounded like a warmer, free-spirited Sigur Ros, reeling with primal percussion and repetitive vocals that recalled a tribal chant.

“Desert Song,” a number that sounds eerie and ominous on record, breathed with vibrancy in the live setting. Ebert jumped around while his nine bandmates pumped seemingly endless energy into their instruments.

When the L.A.-based band closed with “Home,” the crowd exploded with joy, jumping up, clapping manically, and shouting with glee as Stewart Cole blasted a trumpet solo worthy of a king’s entrance.

But last night there was no king. There was a village, and ten very talented song leaders.

For the last song, Jade brought the baby back on stage, holding her on her hip as she crooned “Home is wherever I’m with you.” And in that moment, that’s where we all were. We were home.

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros @ HOB Tonight

Getting a handle on Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros isn't easy. The Los Angeles band's bio doesn't mention the names of any members or any serious facts about its formation. Instead, it focuses on a story about the fictional Edward Sharpe, a child who went from deafness to "hearing too much." The group's debut album, Up From Below, takes a similarly bizarre approach.

SALVO!, a new 12-part music video, attempts to tie the CD's songs into one continuous and trippy narrative. It all begins with the swampy "Desert Song," a sneaky tune with tribal, thumping beats and the ominous twinkling of bells and chimes. New orchestrated tracks fill the gaps between the album songs — appropriate since much of Up From Below is actually a jumble of different sounds and influences balled together. The result is more like random bursts of joy or hurt than songs.

The music's sporadic nature stems from the huge cast of musicians and friends frontman Alex Ebert gathered after writing the demos that form the basis of Up From Below. In concert, the group changes in size, depending on the day and where they're playing. The touring band is usually made up of ten musicians, though that number occasionally jumps to 13. "We have a lot of different friends around the country," explains drummer Josh Collazo, "so whenever they wanna play with us, they can just join in and come onstage."

Read the rest at the Cleveland Scene.

"Home"

Not to sound all hippie and stuff, but I'm totally inspired by the spirit and love going on here:


You might call my interest in this song "obsession." Let's all dance around the house with a pigtail on the top of our head (this guy shows us how that's done) and drink cider and have fierce snowball fights and jump up and down and try to do the perfect handstands and recite the alphabet backwards to the tune of this song? K? Good, cuz that's what I feel like doing when I hear it.

What does this song inspire you to do?