[ATTENDED: January 26, 2018] Typhoon
I first heard Typhoon on a Tiny Desk Concert. There were 11 members in the band, they played gorgeous chamber pop and lead singer Kyle Morton had a really interesting vocal delivery.
I didn’t know that they had quite the following (I watched that concert four years ago). In fact, they sold out Brooklyn the night before my show. While I was waiting for the show to start I saw the nicest, most gracious act I think I’ve ever seen at a concert. In front of me were a mom, dad and their daughter. They were pretty short (about four inches shorter than me). They were there for longer than I was and as Typhoon was about to go on a taller woman pushed her way in front of them. A few minutes later the guy(s) she was with came up to stand next to her. The one guy was about 6′ 5″ and quite broad. He stood in front of the girl who was dwarfed by him. Then he turned around and saw the girl and he immediately moved behind her (right in front of me, but I was able to move aside). His lady friend kept waving him up but he refused. It was a very sweet act And by the middle of the show, she went back with him letting the young daughter stand right at the stage’s edge.
I guess that’s the kind of fans Typhoon creates. When Morton was a kid, he contracted a terrible case of Lyme disease that led to multiple organ failures–his father donated a kidney to save his son’s life. And so his songs deal with death and fear but also hope and an appreciation for life.
The songs lift and swell, they stop and start, change times and angle all over the place.
In the 11 piece incarnation, there was a horn section which gave them an even more orchestral feel. When Typhoon took the stage at Union Transfer there were “only” seven of them. After the show, while I was getting merch, Kyle came around to sign stuff. He was incredibly friendly and sincere and talked for frankly a lot longer than I thought he would (“we didn’t come all this way NOT to talk to you guys,” he had said earlier). When I asked about the size of the band, he flipped over a copy of White Lighter and informed me which of the band members were no longer with them–this one had a baby, this one got a real job, this one is sick tonight. He was a super nice guy.
So this stage set up had basically done away with the horns. There was a bassist, a violinist/singer, a guitarist, a keyboardist/guitarist (seven members and one of them has to play two instruments?), and two drummers!
Typhoon’s latest album is a 70 minute sorta-concept album, which isn’t quite the thing you want to overwhelm your fans with. Especially since, as Kyle pointed out it hadn’t even come out when they started the tour. But the fans knew the words to all of the new songs and were really into the old ones, too.
They started with two songs from White Lighter. “Common Sentiments” got the crowd really pumped. It was fun being right under violinist/singer Shannon Steele. She started playing a few seconds into the song which was cool. I am bummed I never got a good picture of her–it was so dark, but I did like this (terrible) picture that shows her and both drummers. The whole room came alive during the “woah oh oh” part midway through the song, and I don’t think we stopped feeling great for the whole show.
When Steele played the opening violin for “Hunger and Thirst,” the room went nuts. Even though these songs have horns on the record they weren’t missed exactly–they filled that void with keys and violin and more guitars. So for me it was even better. When he sang all of the things he could have been and then got to I could have been a POP singer, the whole crowd was there to scream along with him. And then Steele got her first solo vocal section. She has such a unique voice–instantly recognizable and unearthly.
Then came a new song. They played five songs from the new album which is more guitar oriented. “Rorschach” starts quietly with some interesting glitchy sounds and then just grows bigger and bigger. For a seven piece the band as loud and big but never painfully so.
It was followed by a song from their EP, “Summer Home” which the guy who stepped back for the shorter folks screamed was his favorite song. He was totally stoked and the song sounded lovely.
After another new song,”Darker.” This song had a cool staccato riff that it was cool watching Morton play while the other guitarists played the swirling melodies. Incidentally, Morton had two microphones, one that projected his normal voice and one that had a kind of tight, megaphone quality that he used very effectively for certain parts of the songs.
Then there were three more from White Lighter. “The Lake” sounded amazing–that simple but elegant guitar riff is just beautiful. “Prosthetic Love” was fun to watch the drummers at the beginning since one played the percussion and the other played the drum parts until they both took off in synch for the rest of the song.
After they played “Possible Deaths” Kyle said that their keyboardist Tyler didn’t realize the superpower he had. Whenever Tyler plays the opening four notes, the rest of the band had to play the next four loud chords. And as Kyle was saying that, Tyler played the notes and the band played the four chords again. It was really funny.
“Remember” was a new song with multiple parts and another lead moment from Steele. Kyle was clearly pleased that people were singing along to the news stuff. But he got some great sing- and clap-alongs when they busted out a real oldie from their second album, “CPR / Claws Pt.2.”
Morton complimented the venue, talking about how beautiful it was. There was talk about it being a spaghetti factory, although no one could quite imagine what that meant. At some point the fans chanted E-A-G-L-E-S (the super bowl coming up) and it was clear that Morton didn’t quite get it because he chanted “Defense, whatever that means in this situation.”
The crowd was invigorated for two new songs. “Wake” is kinda dark with some ominous chords playing as the singers chant. The song ends with the enigmatic chant that runs throughout the album and promotional stuff: “Asa Nisi Masa” (this is a nonsense phrase that first appeared in Fellini’s 9 1/2 and has been chanted ever since in various media.
Then they played the new eight minute single “Empiricist,” which got a huge reaction and sounded amazing. The set ended with “Young Fathers” the song that introduced me to the band. I loved hearing Steele sing that to me iconic part
(Now I’m as old as you were when you had me
Should I be afraid
Should I start a family
Raise them in the wild ‘cause up against the city
My love is such a small thing)
And of course we all shouted along to the end: I just called to tell you / I just called to say / Learned all your mistakes / Passed down through generations
When they came back from the encore, Tyler sat down first and he help up one finger as people started murmuring. And then before the band was fully in stage he started playing the note from “Possible Deaths.” The rest of the band ran to their places, and although he had to play the note more than four times, everyone was in synch to bash out those chords–even while laughing.
They encore was the delightful “The Honest Truth” with everyone singing along to
But there’s no “Hallelujah, it will be gone soon
Yeah, It will be gone soon”
It’s just an empty room
This is our darkest cave
We’ll never see the day
But slowly make our way up to the mouth
You’re gonna piss and moan
You let the devil in your home
They ended the night with “Artificial Light” from White Lighter. It has many sections and many great parts to sing along to, including a lengthy “ooooh” section. And with that cathartic closure, they left the stage.
It was a terrific show.
Setlist
- Common Sentiments*
- Hunger and Thirst*
- Rorschach**
- Summer Home*H
- Darker**
- The Lake*
- Prosthetic Love*
- Possible Deaths*
- Remember**
- CPR / Claws Pt.2*HT
- Wake**
- Empiricist**
- Young Fathers*
- encore
- The Honest Truth*H
- Artificial Light*
from: (**)Offerings, 2018; (*)White Lighter, 2013; (*H)A New Kind of House EP, 2011; (*HT) Hunger and Thirst, 2010
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