Brazilian Girls opening for Chris Isaak

I had a great weekend and a busy Sunday. I hopped around town to catch wind (no such luck) and great shows (much better luck). The Brazilian Girls opened my afternoon with their fairy Summer Stage performance made of naked front(wo)man dressed in tight dragonfly outfit with wings, moogified dreadlocks, sweaty bouncing fans and guest stage appearance by The Himalayas (a marching band made up of more than a couple dozen roaming players conducted by Electric Masada’s drummer Kenny Willeson and saxophonist Jonathon Haffner).

I’ve seen the Brazilian Girls a few times and although they played largely the same repertoire again the quartet is still keeping fans dancing happily. Their cosmopolitan sound and trend-setting attitude irradiated the sun-bathing audience with a melange of electronic beats, fuzzy bass lines, cozy harmonies, light-hearted and funny lyrics and so on and so forth. Brazilian Girls are one of the very few bands (I can only think of the Young Gods right now) who sing in English, French, German and Spanish. Their international melting-pot flavor would work so well in the European scene, I am surprised their main audience is American (I guess new yorkers are European at heart, or as diversified as it gets in the US anyway)…

After letting the strong 6pm sun turn my white neck into a red neck (no worries, that’s about the extent of my transformation), I took shelter in the shade of the Fillmore at Irving Plaza for a private performance by Chris Isaak. His performance was as glittery and shiny as his suits are and Isaak was amicable and genuinely nice during the show as well as after, when he actually took the time to talk with people briefly. The guy just has that charisma and that charm that so very few people possess and when you couple that with his songwriting and his warm voice he really makes you think you are the presence of a new “king”…

He played his hits backed by a great band (the same guys he’s been touring with for 20 years). Three suits, three guitars, a mellow and intimate acoustic moment and the tradition of the nitty gritty lush rock and roll sound that made him the bright and slick star of Las Vegas and beyond (and with that tradition in mind, he had a bunch of random women get on stage and dance). A little over one hour of great music and great fun ended this night in the best of ways.

The concert was a benefit event with a silent auction. The main item being auctioned was a Gibson Epiphone Mr. Isaak drew all over both sides with a sharpie (way beyond the usual autograph). I did bid on the guitar, twice, but I didn’t get it in the end… Bummer!