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Thursday
Apr102014

Arc Iris Album Release Show

 

Jocie Adams took the stage quietly. Well, as quietly as someone in a gold-sequined jumpsuit can anyway. Adams, best known for her work in the Low Anthem,  saddled up to a piano tucked in the corner and began playing. A classically trained composer, Adams glissaded through a delicate, dream-like passage. She was soon joined on stage by pianist Zach Tenorio-Miller, who leaned over her shoulders and accompanied the piece with both hands. The pair strung together gorgeous, dramatic lines. It was a creative and altogether enchanting opening, and Arc Iris was just getting warmed up.

Soon a menagerie of musicians joined the pair on stage, colored lights reflecting off the band's multi-faced outfits. Boasting a cellist, a double-bassist, a trumpeter, a trombonist and pedal-steel player, and a drummer, the band blossomed into a miniature orchestra, a group capable of delivering elements of classical, jazz, folk, country, and big-band, seemingly all on the same song.

Arc Iris ran through numbers from their debut self-titled album - an album completed some 18 months ago. ("That's a long time," Tenorio-Miller shrugged bemusedly.) It's an album that refuses to be tied down. They sounded lively on"Singing So Sweetly", a jazzy number that highlighted Adams' vocal versatility over plinky piano keys and affected trumpet-playing. "Powder Train" may be the only song about cocaine that features a cello, oweing elements to country and knowing winks from Harry Nilsson. The group sounded equally adept with doo-wop ("Ditch") and Dirty Projectors-like upper-register harmonies.


At turns vulnerable and self-assured, playful but sincere, Arc Iris practices a certain kind of alchemy. Adams and co. take seemingly disparate musical elements and meld them with sneakily poignant songwriting to form an intoxicating concoction of memorable, magical musicality. The live show and the terrific album are both well-executed experiments well worth your time. 

Date 

Venue 

Location 

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Apr 08

Mercury Lounge

New York, NY

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Apr 09

BARw/ Plume Giant

New Haven, CT

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Apr 11

Pittsburgh Winery

Pittsburgh, PA

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Apr 14

Schuba's

Chicago, IL

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Apr 16

Jamin Javaw/ Juana Molina

Vienna, VA

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Apr 17

Boot & Saddlew/ Juana Molina

Philadelphia, PA

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Apr 25

Colony Cafew/ Burnell Pines, S...

Woodstock, NY

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Apr 28

The Sinclairw/ Plume Giant, Lau...

Boston, MA

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May 01

The Workmans Club

Dublin, Ireland

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May 02

Night & Day Cafe

Manchester, United Kingdom

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May 03

Live At Leeds

Leeds, United Kingdom

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May 04

Stag & Dagger

Glasgow, United Kingdom

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May 06

The Louisianaw/ Nicole Atkins

Bristol, United Kingdom

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May 07

Bush Hallw/ Nicole Atkins, N...

London, United Kingdom

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May 09

The Great Escape -The Fly Stage

Brighton, United Kingdom

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May 10

The Great Escape - Uncut Stage

Brighton, United Kingdom

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May 11

Paradiso

Amsterdam, Netherlands

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May 14

Les Trois Baudets

Paris, France

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May 16

Privatclubw/ Allie

Berlin, Germany

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May 17

Le Botaniquew/ Nick Mulvey

Brussels, Belgium

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Jun 22

Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revivial

Croton On Hudson, NY

 

 

 

 

 

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