The Waggle Dance: The Helio Sequence at the Bowery Ballroom, 4/03/08

Hey all, I’m Afroblanco, and I’ll be writing The Waggle Dance, the music column for Neighborbee. For those of you not versed in apiculture, I shall explain: when honeybees find a good source for pollen, such as a particularly tasty flower bed, they return to the hive to tell everybody about it. Upon arrival, they perform what is known as a Waggle Dance, which is a special set of motions that communicates to their neighbor bees where the pollen source may be found. And that’s pretty much how I envision my role here - returning to the hive to let you know where all the good music is.

And so, without further ado, I shall present my first column - a review of The Helio Sequence’s recent show at the Bowery Ballroom.

Why is it so rare for psychedelic music to turn out right? Simply because there are so many ways for it to turn out wrong. There are the long, interminable jams. The wanky, overwrought solos. The failed attempts at genre-bending. And all too often, a completely absent notion of songwriting.

Yet, the wonder of the Helio Sequence is how often things turn out right. Euphoric without being wanky. Complex without being dense. Syncretic without being silly. And songs. Actual songs. Real, honest-to-god, under-four-minute songs.

The Helio Sequence somehow manages to combine all the right elements in all the right ways. My-Bloody-Valentine-style noise? Check. Bouncy, yet non-saccharine synth elements? Check. Harmonious vocals and well written lyrics? In abundance. Add to this their propensity for jaw-dropping instrumental climaxes, and what you have is one of the most entertaining psychedelic bands that I’ve seen in a long time.

Now, enough about the music; on with the show.

Brandon Summers, the vocalist/guitarist, looks and sings a bit like Paul Simon. Benjamin Weikel is the drummer, and in my life I’ve never seen a man more happy to be playing the drums. Throughout the show, the look on his face was positively exultant. This sort of thing can be highly contagious. Before long, I found myself wearing a big fat Silly Grin (even though I haven’t dropped acid in over ten years).

Now, I should take a moment here to describe the crowd. I am well aware that this is New York, and we all have to be broomstick-up-our-ass hipsters and are not allowed to let on that we’re actually enjoying ourselves. And god forbid we even think about dancing. Well, let me tell you, the people at this show danced. No, they didn’t dance. They GOT DOWN. Especially when dance-friendly numbers like Hallelujah and the Captive Mind came on.

Finally, when they encored with the Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows, I was floored. My first thought was "Holy crap, if there’s any band, anywhere, who should be covering this song, it’s this band right here." And they didn’t disappoint. Nuanced without being irreverent, their dynamic, heavy-drone interpretation put me in an ecstatic state that lasted until long after the show was over.

The Helio Sequence at the Bowery Ballroom, 04/03/2008 : 9/10

Photo courtesy of pdgibson