Sunday night concerts are a tricky business. It usually requires some commitment to make it to a Sunday show. Generally you are tired, behind on errands and just dreading the impending work week. I don’t usually go out to many Sunday night shows, but the looming spectacle that I had expected from Danish electronic act Trentemoller was enough for me to change my stance.
Trentemoller is a well known Danish electronic act that has been touring North America extensively the past year, playing everywhere from the Mod Club to Coachella. The band has two previously recorded albums and also a double album titled Reworked / Remixed out next year. Somewhat unknown stateside, Trentemoller’s resume includes of all things, closing out Roskilde, one of the most relevant European music festivals (maybe made more famous by Pearl Jam) two years ago. Going from 80,000 people to a few hundred must of been an interesting notion for a band but on this night, Trentemoller did not let the small audience stop them from putting on an energetic show.
Taking the stage at 9:30, Anders Trentemoller was accompanied by a live band, which included a drummer, a multi-instrumentalist and two female vocalists who also doubled as guitar players and tambourine shakers. Anders himself took center stage with a host of synthesizers, miniature piano, a cymbal and xylophone. Hidden behind an elevated tape shield for the first track, the band played a slowly building number a midst darkness and smoke machines to set the tone for the show. The tape shields soon dropped revealing an impressive amount of lighting that help accentuate the music. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not all Trentemoller tunes were instrumental and the tracks that featured Marie Fisker’s sultry voice had a nice old school lounge like quality to it, only if that lounge somehow played downtempo electronic music in the background.
The rest of the show had a nice flow to it, moving from atmospheric down tempo music to energetic full-on percussion dance party at a flick of a switch. There’s just something about electronic music backed by a live band that I can’t put my finger on… it’s just really good. While I think I would have totally rock out hard for a Trentemoller show on a Friday night with plenty of pre-drinking and friends, the Sunday night journey I embarked on was quite alright as well.
Trentemøller: Shades Of Marble by Trentemøller