Grizzly Bear “On A Neck, On A Spit”

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Never mind the blog hype–the first time Grizzly Bear entered my mind was when Rory Gilmore name-dropped them in one of her never-ending monologues. And Rory wasn’t lying, either. Grizzly Bear’s harmony-drenched, mid-tempo music unfurls alternately like a dream with sparkling twists and turns around every corner and like traipsing through a forest with neither map nor compass.  The acoustic dynamics at Walt Disney Concert Hall should amplify the effect well while stripping those lo-fi moments that occasionally mar the band’s sound.  Essa Pekka Salonen and his symphonic cohorts will play opening act in this weird, novel juxtaposition of a night. But don’t expect any Hollywood Bowl-type jamming between orchestra and band; press says never the twain shall meet.  Instead, the L.A. Phil will be playing works that inspired the Grizzly Bears themselves and other short pieces that occupy a similar niche, then call it a night.  Serious and popular music, side by side, all distinctions between high and low culture swept under the carpet for one magical moment.

– Gregory Garabedian

GRIZZLY BEAR AND THE L.A. PHILHARMONIC AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. GRAND AVE., LOS ANGELES. 9P.M. /  $24-34. WWW.LAPHIL.ORG.