 Media Credit: Nathan Lebioda Pat Bricker takes centre stage, and a hit of “Lebanese Blond”.
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After an initial meeting in 1985 where the two expressed their mutual adoration of 60s bossanova, Rob Garza, a private eye, and Eric Hilton, a house and hip hop DJ, decided to put their two cents into today's musical platter and formed the Thievery Corporation. They cite influences from every corner of the musical spectrum, from early punk rock to hardcore to neo-mod revival outfits. The result is a distinctive sound characterized by drowsy ambience with undertones from every which direction.
The Thievery Corporation's show at the Rialto Theatre on the night of November 15 was a spectacle of dazzling sights and even sweeter sounds. Void of predictable loops and breaks, the show was filled with synthy atmospheric sounds, warm, euphoric chords, and introspective, organic trip hop.
Fresh off their fourth CD release,
The Richest Man in Babylon on their own label, Eighteenth Street Lounge Music, the duo of Garza and Hilton blew the crowd away. Hailing from Washington, DC, this is the first time they've brought an entourage with them on tour, consisting of a three-piece band and five vocalists.
Opening for the group was DJ Bliss, a resident at Blizzarts' Thursday night breakbeat weekly. Bliss warmed up the crowd with an impressive selection of tracks and skills to boot. At the top of his game, he spun an eclectic set that spanned various genres, blending downtempo, house, nu skool breaks and trip hop.
Deep, funky basslines kicked off the night. As the musicians took to the stage, a vast screen behind them featured images of shifting cloud formations. Throughout the night, this canvas would showcase vistas from the world over, snapshots of films commissioned by Thievery to complement their act.
The stage saw three rotating songstresses: Emiliana Torrini from Iceland, Lou Lou from France and Thievery familiar Pam Bricker. The gracefully shy Torrini was the first to perform and eased the crowd into the musical journey that would follow with sweet melodies and psychedelic rhythms. The opening notes for "Shadows of Ourselves" from Mirror Conspiracy made the crowd wild, and Lou Lou reflected the positive energy back.
During "Illumination", the barefoot accompanist, who had been sitting cross-legged and inert, picked up his sitar and fused its exotic sound with the song's potpourri of influences from rolling African bongo drums to thumping Asian frame drums.
Rastafarians Roots and Zee of the See Eye collective followed Bricker's rendition of crowd favourite "Lebanese Blond" and abruptly brought the crowd back down into reality as they took to the stage in white safari suits. Bad, bouncy hip hop beats were puréed then seamlessly blended with old school dub flavours as they performed old favourites "38.45" and "Assault on Babylon" off their 1997 debut album
Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi, as well as more recent offering "Focus on Sight".
"This vibe, this energy in the house, is beautiful," exclaimed Roots and Zee.
Irrepressible cheering followed the end of the set, as the audience pleaded for just another truffle of music. To their relief, the band gave in. Torrini's sweet, fragile voice wafted through the first song of the encore "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes". The crowd, hypnotized by her chilling stage presence and engulfed by the downtempo beats, compressed bass and enchanting string arrangements, greedily devoured the song.
The night's final track was a high-energy offering with a salute to fanfare with bold, braying trumpets. As one of the Rastas made his way into the frenzied crowd, the other urged fans to get up on stage to get down, and get down they did. As the band cleared the stage, spirits were high and contagious delight spread through the crowd.
"That was so fucking awesome," enthused a sweaty dancer as he stepped off the stage with an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face. The incredible cabaret climax looked like a scene straight out of
Moulin Rouge.
The Thievery Corporation's recordings do not do this group justice. As I left the Rialto, I couldn't suppress the my own giddy grin, satisfied for having seen a such a deliciously gratifying show.
