Celebration @ 9:30 Club, 10.15.06

Photo Note: In the third picture down you can see Jaleel Bunton, the drummer for TVOTR, checking out the Celebration scene from the balcony. He is on the left, wearing a jacket or blazer of some sort, next to a hanging speaker.

Celebration came out around 10:30. We found ourselves front and center after scoring a great spot in the line. The doors opened at 10:00, but they didn't start admitting anyone until about ten after. That was fine because we were able to catch Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone hustle into the tour bus parked directly in front of the club.

We were still expecting Grizzly Bear to play the opening set, but Celebration burst onto the stage and announced that they received the "bat call" (my phrase, not theirs) earlier that same day. Grizzly Bear apparently had a difficulty of some sort that prevented their presence and Celebration, hailing from the great city of Baltimore and all, and having some history with gentlemen from TVOTR (David Sitek, guitarist for TVOTR, is a former Baltimorean, is considered Celebration's "Godfather," produced their first album and introduced them to 4AD) gladly filled the bill. We last saw Celebration, believe it or not, on stage with TVOTR at Coachella. It is a small world.

I remember loving their presence on stage with TVOTR then, and I have nothing but good things to say about their live performance as a band. They have some tight hooks in their songs, a ton of energy on stage, and, well, it must be easy with the dynamic songs they create. Katrina Ford channels her inner 80's dancegirl (I would say Karen O., but Katrina's been doing this since high school) on stage - it's all bounce, all charisma, and all fun.

They released their latest effort in May of this year. It is called New Skin and the title track was the standout song from their performance two nights ago. The songs are excitable, eclectic pieces worthy of their varied instrumentation. Celebration is a trio, with Ford contributing vocals, David Bergander behind the drums, and Sean Antanaitis on (brace yourself) organ, electric keyboard, bass, and guitorgan ("an electric guitar hand-modified so that it can produce sound through an analogue organ tone generator as well as through its conventional pick-ups"). On Sunday, they were joined on stage by a saxophonist about two or three songs in. It all evolved effortlessly and it was a perfect precursor to the mayhem that TV On The Radio unleashed shortly thereafter.

MP3: Celebration - "New Skin"

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Celebration will be performing again at the 9:30 Club on November 14th in support of Blood Brothers and Trail of Dead. They are opening the following Blood Brothers/Trail of Dead dates in October, November and December:

October
27 Gothic Theater, Englewood, CO
28 Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS
29 Washington University, St. Louis, MO
31 House of Blues, Chicago, IL

November
1 The Quest, Minneapolis, MN
2 The Eagles Club, Milwaukee, WI
3 Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
4 The Majestic Theater, Detroit , MI
5 Phoenix Concert Theater, Toronto
6 La Tulipe, Montreal
8 Avalon, Boston, MA
9 Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
10 Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
11 Irving Plaza, New York, NY
12 Irving Plaza, New York, NY
14 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
15 Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte, NC
16 The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
17 The Club At Firestone, Orlando, FL
18 Jannus Landing, St Petersburg, FL
20 House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
21 Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
22 Emo's , Austin , TX
24 Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
25 Jake's Backroom, Lubbock, TX
27 Marquee Theater, Phoenix, AZ
28 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
29 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
30 Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, CA

December
1 Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, CA
2 The Glasshouse, Pamona, CA
3 Empire, Sacramento, CA
5 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
6 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
7 The Showbox, Seattle, WA
9 Sugar Nightclub, Victoria, BC
10 Croatian Cultural Theater, Vancouver, BC
11 Macewan Ballroom University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
12 The Venue Formerly Known as Red's, Edmonton, AB
14 Avalon Theater, Salt Lake City, UT