Concert Review: Geographer, May 12, Lincoln Hall

People tend to have a pretty evolved sense of flattering environments for themselves. Our generation has taken enough selfies that we know exactly which direction to turn, how much eyebrow to give, exactly how many pearly whites to flash to get that perfect shot/silhouette/pose. I don’t know if he does it on purpose, but Geographer‘s Michael Deni most definitely has that same sense of a flattering environment. His onstage set-up at Lincoln Hall on Tuesday consisted of a backlit stage with lights scanning up and down, lengthening and elongating the already beautifully lanky Deni from the tips of his shoes to the pouf at the top of his head as he moved and flowed and crooned over the synth.

Playing behind Deni was Duncan Nielsen on guitar, Cody Rhodes on drums and Joyce Lee on an incredible stripped down electric cello. As much as Deni’s silkily wandering falsetto creates that “pop music from outer space” vibe the band goes for, Lee’s electric cello gives it an eerie, spacey, ‘dropped in from the unknown’ feel even more. The group played from their new album Ghost Modern released this past March, kicking things off with the introspective and mournful “I’m Ready” and moving through some old favorites off of 2010’s Animal Shapes and 2012’s Myth.

Geographer’s set is an interesting mix of shimmering façade and heartfelt honesty. They bill themselves as “music from outer space” which is a great descriptor, but I think another one could be “brutally honest electro pop.” It’s not often that you get that mix of introspective self assessment with a pulsating beat and synth on synth on synth. To create something so honest, lovely, refreshing, weird and fun all at the same time is quite a feat.

Posted on by Celeste in Concerts