10/20/7, Pomona, CA: They are pop. They are rock. They are noise. They are hip-hop. They are British. They are American. They are black. They are white. They are Asian. They are everyone, and They are no one. They are the Go! Team. For one dazzling weekend, they were L.A. The Brighton band played three shows in three nights (at three different SoCal venues) this weekend. Shame on you if you missed them. And if you dislike them, double-shame on you.
The Brit sextet is now famous for their high-energy live shows in which their 2 albums' worth of patented sample-heavy hip-hop-pop truly comes alive. Dense old skool beats collide with Sonic Youth-inspired white noise and muscular basslines mesh with the sounds of two drummers. Frontwoman/MC Ninja brings the fast-paced rhymes and she's just so darn cute, doing the running man onstage like she's at an 8th grade dance. On record, her game gets buried under a landslide of cacophonous noise, but in the live setting, she becomes the group's de facto leader.
Multi-instrumentalists Ian Parton (who penned the majority of the band's songs) and Kaori Tsuchida bring workmanlike intensity to their respective roles.
The all-ages Glass House in Pomona, CA is the perfect place for a fun-filled show like the one the Go! Team offered on Saturday night. Lots of Mountain Dew-fueled jumping, unironic sing-alongs, big, beaming grins and "BFF"-type sentiments were the order of the night. Drummer #2 is a diminutive girl named Chi and if she was any more adorable she'd be a Powerpuff Girl or at least a baby penguin. She and Tsuchida traded verses on the band's stellar "Fake ID," which was one of the highlights of the show. The closing encore tune "Keys to the City" had just about everyone in the crowd jumping in unison (as per Ninja's instructions), and it was then that the collective euphoria seemed to peak. They really ought to just ditch having an opening act and play for like three hours.
10/21/7, Los Angeles: On Sunday at the Echoplex in L.A., the Go! Team played a virtually identical set (even down to the stage banter), but nonetheless gave the house a good old-fashinoned rocking. The Team seemed to have slightly more energy (except for Parton, who appeared distracted and unhappy with the venue's sound). Ninja joked about her English accent and riffed on some funny Valley Girl speak. The set for both nights was an even mix between their latest Proof of Youth and their debut, Thunder Lightning Strike. Citizenrobot's got some more photos of the Echoplex show.
10/22/7, Los Angeles: At Amoeba Records on Monday, the Team did a shortish in-store performance (6 Proof of Youth songs, about a half hour) that was plagued with tech troubles but was ultimately satisfying. They even hung around to sign autographs and chat with fans, though they seemed pretty low-energy at that point. Onstage, Ninja was as vibrant as ever, and expressed the band's bewilderment at playing in a record store. She told the crowd it was OK to go crazy, dance and "break things" (much to the inevitable delight of Amoeba). The stage is small, and the band was cramped, but they pulled off a doozy of a mini-set, playing especially rockin' takes on "Fake I.D." and "Titanic Vandalism."
L.A. octet Bodies of Water opened both the Glass House and Echoplex shows with some uninspired Arcade Fire/Architecture in Helsinki grandiose pop that featured (and underused) a three-man horn section.
The Color Turning, a bunch of good-looking young doodz, were on first in Pomona, while the Yeah Yeah Yeahs knock-off Grand Ole Party rounded out the bill at the Echoplex.
Photos by Chinapixie.com.
