Islands
Friday, Nov. 10
Henry Fonda Theater
It’s only a matter of time before a giant earthquake
separates Los Angeles from the rest of California. Until then, we
have Islands.
Things began appropriately on Friday night with the smell of
marijuana permeating the curtained walls of the Henry Fonda Theater
as two underground rap acts attempted to loosen up concertgoers for
the headlining band’s psychedelic panache.
Matching the cheeky nature of Islands, Blueprint reprimanded
rappers today for singing about nothing of substance before rapping
about the annoying limits of cell phone minutes. Audience members
appropriately lit up the floor with their cell phones as Blueprint
smiled his way through “I Need My Minutes.”
After the song’s conclusion, he announced he was done with
his “serious stuff” and sang about “fun
stuff” such as the image of blacks in mainstream rap.
Ending his set with a cathartic sing-a-long to Queen’s
“We are the Champions,” Blueprint asked audience
members to raise their fingers into peace signs ““ conjuring
feelings of communal love rather than the thrill of winning a
soccer game.
Following that, Subtitle put every ounce of his energy into
reciting his so-fast-they’re-barely-comprehensible lyrics and
had to lie down on the stage floor to catch his breath.
Still, Islands was the main attraction. Emerging from the
folklore of 2003’s now-defunct indie it-band The Unicorns,
Islands features the former band’s mastermind Nick Diamonds
in an attempt to recreate the quirkiness of his former band in a
more serious and concentrated effort.
Islands’ debut album, “Return to Sea,” employs
a number of instruments in order to create a cohesive, worldly
sound that complements Diamonds’ characteristic, whimsical
pop melodies.
On stage, while “Where There’s a Will There’s
a Whalebone” was impressive for its swirling Pink Floyd-esque
prog-rock, Subtitle’s rapping bit and return to the stage
excited audience members most. Though still incomprehensible,
Subtitle’s fast-paced lyrics sounded better when accompanied
by the orchestrated and energetic band than in the simpler beats of
his solo work.
Reminiscent of brothers Ari and Uzi in the film “The Royal
Tenenbaums,” the band’s bespectacled Chow brothers also
proved to be a unique track suit-clad partnership. In addition to
looking good, the brothers proved their musical prowess in many
manifestations: violas, keys, violin, backing vocals, percussion,
maracas and the occasional shaker.
The most innovative instrument played by one of the brothers
““ the Brazilian cuÃca ““ added to the lighthearted
calypso feel of “Jogging Gorgeous Summer.” Though
rarely included in pop songs, the cuÃca, which sounds like a
jungle animal moaning, supplemented the love scene described in
lyrics such as “Millions of sunsets but the one I’ll
remember / Is the one where you told me you’d love me
forever.”
Nonetheless, the star of the night’s show was Diamonds,
and judging from the subsequent dance party, the crowd’s
favorite song was the set’s synth-pop closer about diamonds,
“Rough Gem.”
Echoed by the lyrics “They want it fast, but they
don’t want flaws / I’m a girl’s best
friend,” many girls ““ and boys ““ reached out to
touch Diamonds, whose white face paint did not detract from his
ability to spread beauty through song.
Despite being the only former Unicorn remaining in Islands
““ founding member and Unicorn J’aime Tambeur left the
band in May ““ Diamonds, accompanied by the support of his
troupe of six talented musicians, proved that Islands, too, are
forever.