Last night, on Friday, September 19th, 2014, OK Go confettied the crowd at the Bowery Ballroom during their hour and twenty minute long set. With no opening act, contrary to the bill, the audience stood around for two hours after the doors opened, steadily passing through various levels of inebriation before OK Go finally took the stage a little after 10pm. Needless to say, some poor sods were tossed out before the show even started (a few were underage) missing out on the party entirely. Oozing playful charm and snark, lead singer Damian Kulash bantered with the audience members between songs while fans tried to elicit dirty comments from the band.
OK Go played the first few songs behind a white mesh net, onto which animated images and clips of the band member’s heads singing their songs were projected. The show opened with a short, minute-long mashed up clip of movies and shows with the words “OK Go” spoken in them, building up anticipation before they opened with a new song from their upcoming album, Hungry Ghosts, called “Upside Down and Inside Out.” Once the net was lifted back up, two funneled cones on either sides of the stage spewed tissue paper confetti all over the entire venue, even up to the balcony, showering everybody present with OK Go love and sticking quite nicely to the beer slick floor. The lighting effects, some of which were projected onto two angled screens behind drummer Dan Konopka or on the white mesh screen, and some of which were aimed back out at the audience illuminating the fluttering confetti, enhanced the party vibe, mixing lasers and strobes and even a disco ball.
The rest of the set list after “Upside Down and Inside Out” included “You’re So Damn Hot,” “The Writing’s On the Wall,” “I Won’t Let You Down,” “I Want You,” “Obsession,” and “This Too Shall Pass,” which the crowd sweetly sang along to. Then there was an interactive version of “There’s a Fire,” in which Kulash got the crowd to make several sounds (a stomp, a clap, and a shh) that he recorded onto a loop pedal and used as the backing track for part of the song. Way to make the audience feel special and involved, guys! Next up was “Last Leaf,” which Kulash played in the middle of the audience, diplomatically making a point to face both sides of the crowd for half the song. He then passed the mic off to bassist Tim Nordwind who led the much anticipated “Question and Answer” portion of the show that Kulash had been referring to throughout the first half of the set. After, they played “Get Over It,” “I’m Not Through,” which featured a twinkling synth solo courtesy of guitarist Andy Ross, and lovely backup “oohs,” then “Needing/Getting,” “Do What You Want,” “Skyscrapers,” and “ Turn Up the Radio,” from their 2014 EP Upside Out.
The encore included “Fake It,” “White Knuckles,” “The One Moment,” and lastly, “Here It Goes Again.” Kulash invited the anybody who wanted to dance up onto the stage, completing the dance-party vibe for the night. They played four songs total off of their new 2014 EP, and the full length album Hungry Ghosts will be released on October 14th this year. Check out FDRMX‘s track-by-track review of their 2005 album Oh No as well as a review of their optical illusion filled music video for The Writing’s On The Wall. Preorder Hungry Ghosts on OK Go’s website.
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