The Extraordinaires
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The Extraordinaires are a mess of eccentric ideas blended and transformed into a delightful treat. Fresh from a tour with gypsy punks Gogol Bordello, The Extraordinaires are a rare type of band that honest-to-goodness put the performance back into the live show.
The Extraordinaires don fanciful costumes, pen in-character monologues and construct elaborate sets to bring its Ribbons Of War album and Short Stories EP to the stage. Even when the level of obvious theatrics is minimized the band members are natural characters, throwing themselves into every song with head-banging and thrashing.
When I last saw The Extraordinaires, it was a bill with Real Estate. Coming out in sombreros, The Extraordinaires kicked off its first song with a recorded samba beat. In between old favorites, the band's use of recorded material, including applause, was clever without being heavy-handed. A particularly memorable moment was when Jay Purdy impersonated Mario, hopping along to the Mario bounce sounds and even climbing the wall up to the balcony. The Mario theme segued into a rollicking folk jam without a hint of downtime. Similar to their unclassifiable music, their stage antics capture a zaniness that appears to be inherent rather than gimmicky.
The Extraordinaires are a band that demands to be seen live, or else. Lucky for us, they will be playing frequently around the East Coast in the coming months, with shows in Philadelphia, where their madcap music truly belongs.
The Extraordinaires, "Eloise The Eloquent"
Posted on January 29, 2010. More on: extraordinaires, real estate, philadelphia, short stories ep, ribbons of war, gogol bordello
