At 8 pm Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros was scheduled to playat the Sunset Junction Bates stage, I did not want to be late and especially did not want to find myself in the same situation as Bad Brains with a limited number of photographers allowed in the pit, so I came early, when the previous band was still playing, and stayed in the pit during the set up. People with monster cameras joined me little by little and soon it was packed to the max. The crowd was huge, I mean I just guess it because I could not exactly see the end of it from where I was, but the security people were anxious, and one of them told the photographers he did not have enough guys to hold the barricades so it was basically at our own risk to stay there. I laughed, thinking that I had survived Bad Brains, and that nothing could possibly be worse!
The band was late, very late, at least 40 minutes behind their schedule and this had a tendency to excite even more the crowd, which was chanting and asking for the concert to start. It was a very long set-up but they really have a lot of instruments to install: piano, many guitars, drums, percussion, synthesizer, banjo, trumpets, violin, bass, accordion were brought little by little…
When the band finally came on stage, making a mini entrance a la Flaming Lips with a release of a few giant multicolored balloons over the crowd, they started with their ‘40 Day Dream’ song, which made people scream of joy and dance in the little space they had.
Alex Ebert, barefoot as usual, his hair knotted in an disheveled bun, wearing a dirty white suit and a long red scarf, was balancing, jumping, throwing little stars out of his pocket, making these dramatic moves in the air with his arms as if he was about to fall or fly at each minute. If the band is large, the attention of the public and photographers was constantly on him, ‘he is so fast’ told me the guy next to me: That was true, he kept moving speedily, being everywhere at the same time, and making our job to capture the moment very difficult.
It did not take long for him to remove his vest, may be after the 3rd song, showing his skinny body looking like an Indian yogi or a Jesus Christ after a retreat in the desert depending on your beliefs.
He was restless as he had been animated by some devil rhythms, except when he sat down on the stage, just in front of me, during the beginning of ‘Carries on’; but soon he was up again, frenetically running and jumping at the same place during the chorus, like a mad gospel dancer.
Sure people were dancing and jumping during the honky-tonk ‘Home’, sang in duet with Jade Castrinos who was wearing a cute bowler hat, but it was nothing like Bad Brains’ madness!
This is happy music, jubilating hymns, and the heart of thousand of people seemed to explode at each of them wooow-woow and jumping-along tunes. I have seen them before, about a year ago, but their spell on the crowd has considerably grown over such a short amount of time. The messianic figure named Edward Sharpe who was ‘sent down to Earth to heal and save mankind’ was perfectly incarnated by Alex Ebert Sunday night, as he went down in the middle of the crowd many times at the great despair of security who was afraid not to be able to handle the situation.
But when Alex Ebert met with people, it was magical, he told jokes and people avidly listened, he made the whole crowd sit down in circles and they all sat down the security guards included, he continued singing, and he hugged people, I mean he really gave hugs, truly embracing people with his whole body. People responded, feeling loved by this sort of half-god. And he did not hug two or three people, they all came to him and he hugged all of them, one by one. When he found a small bride veil (I have no idea where it came from), he put it on his head and said he wanted to marry everyone, touching and making eye contact with everyone, saying he wanted to ‘Celebrate that love’, advising people to ‘fill free to kiss each other’ because ‘you are all now my husbands and wives’… what a wedding!
That’s how far he pushed his messianic figure idea, and the weirdest thing of all is that he did not give the impression to act, this childish innocence and honesty seemed so natural, real and liberating.
It was easy to talk to him, I did and gave him one of my cards telling him about the website and a possible interview?…. ‘Sure’ he said. I am waiting!