By Tyler Fassnacht

With a band like the Books, I didn’t entirely know what to expect from a live show. One thing that I was definitely happy about was that seats were brought out onto the floor, which added some comfort to accompany the experience that was the Books.

Opening the show was a woman who went by Baby Dee. She played harp for the majority of her set, which was filled with haunting, lulling, vaudeville songs. Her raspy voice whispered and erupted during the abrupt change in dynamics in her songs. She filled the space between songs with kind words, strange stories and cackles, which sometimes were completely to herself. As a friend of mine put it, she would have fit right in Wonderland. She was rather odd to put it lightly. For her last few songs, she moved to accordion, and changed her style completely. The songs turned cynical, morbid and vulgar, all in a humorous pub chant sort of way, and she smiled the whole time. I still am not quite sure how I feel about Baby Dee, but it was definitely entertaining.

After a short break the Books came out and said hello. Consisting of two members, armed with an arsenal of samples, loops, an acoustic guitar, bass, cello and sparse vocals, the Books played for approximately an hour. Throughout the entire show, a video screen behind the band played clips that synced with the music. The videos seemed to be pieced together from old TV programs, infomercials, instructional videos and home videos, which all managed to grab attention without distracting from the music, because it went together so well. When I referred to this show as an experience I really meant it, it was no regular concert. Getting lost in the beauty of the music and the mesmerizing footage happened to me frequently, and from the complete silence during the songs, I’m sure much of the audience felt the same.

There isn’t a way I could put it in words that would describe the show and do it justice, it was just amazing. The band thanked the audience in a timid manner and took leave after a short two-song encore, which was much too short in my opinion. It was a perfect way to end an evening, especially a Monday.

Discuss: Have you seen the Books like before? What did you think of last night’s show? What is your favorite album from The Books? Drop a comment with your thoughts/reviews, etc.

Buy: The Books
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Myspace: The Books
Video: The Books – “Take Time”