The Nationals Aaron and Bryce Dessner andRed Hot OrganizationsJohn Carlin have plenty to be proud of.
So, how was last nights concert?
In a word: fantastic.
Credit: Sarah Cass
In another word: collaborative.
Click through the jump for an artist-by-artist breakdown of the nights festivities.
The pint-sized gal has quite a powerful voice, one that oscillates between booming and breathy notes with ease.
She can also drop plenty of ahs to startling effect.
She bounced on and off stage throughout the night, joining the National and Bon Iver onstage later on.
Wordens playful, come-hither smile punctuated what was a vocally flawless performance.
They sounded fine for the most part, but lead singer Matt Beringer was far too stiff.
Those elements didnt translate smoothly, or memorably, on the big stage.
On the album, the song is bolstered by synths, which were missing from the live version.
Instead, all we got was a big-band-like arrangement that lacked soul.
Siteks awkward stage presence didnt help much, either.
He played a couple of those last night live for the first time.
Unfortunately, you could tell he hadnt played them before.
But hey, dude is David Byrne.
I can cut him some slack.
Bon Iver joined him on Dreamworld, a Portuguese-flavored track that featured an African drum solo.
The drumming typified the defining qualities of his set: noisy and fun.
Best in show honors, hands-down.Grade: A
Feist: Ticket to ride
Is Feist the new Cat Power?
All four songs in her mini-set were covers.
But Train Song was the show-stopper.
His presence added gravity to the old-time folk ballad.
Those harmonies were the only major addition to the song.
The rest was just modest guitar-strumming and masterful back-and-forth between the two singers.
Their brilliant rendition of Train Song easily trumps the one with Gibbard.
(Sorry, Ben.
At least you still have Zooey Deschanel to go home to.
(Extra props to her for doing the camel walk in heels.)
Pete Seeger turned 90 yesterday, and had a star-studded bash at Madison Square Garden to prove it.
(Simon Vozick-Levinson was there.)
But thank god for Sharon Jones.
She strolled on stage just in time for a fiery Dap-Kings-ified version of the song.
Within seconds, it became the Sharon Jones show.
I could watch her for hours.
The night could have used even more on-stage collaborations, but what we saw looked seamless and felt organic.
Everyone appeared to be genuinely enjoying each others company, and proud to participate.
Lets hope the Dessners get to work on another concert, and fast.
Or, even better, aDark Was the Night2.
Make it happen guys.Grade: A-
Have you checked out theDark Was the Nightalbum yet, Mixers?
(Listen oniMeemif you havent.)
Who else was at Radio City last night?
And which bands would you most like to see on a follow-up?
