Twin Shadow and Diamond Rings: big sounds, small stage

The music venue at Maxwell’s in Hoboken (for those not familiar) is housed in the rear of what strongly resembles an Applebee’s restaurant. Past the swinging doors is a small, cave-like lair with exposed brick and stone juxtaposed against harsh red lighting. Hugging the rear and stage-right walls are limited vinyl bleacher-like (though only a single row) seating, complete with a no-frills bar to the adjacent side which should have made for an intimate setting for a highly publicized act such as Twin Shadow. However, at the same time one could not help but feel a slight disconnect from the NYC scene. The streets of Hoboken are eerily quiet, the crowd subdued, and the bar underutilized… compared to the socially acceptable alcoholism of Brooklyn. This slight lack of scene “authenticity” could be felt in the room throughout the night, but didn’t fully distract from solid performances by both Diamond Rings and Twin Shadow.

One-man glam band Diamond Rings took to the stage first. Clad in red leather, a white tee and sporting a Vanilla Ice quiff the stringy blonde joked he was “doing his best Bruce Springsteen impression.” His haunting baritone voice filled the room the way The Boss might, though he had only the support of a synthesizer and drum machine rather than the celebrity laden E Street Band. A lesser artist might have difficulty carrying a performance with vocals that at times seemed to drown out the electronic instrumentation, let alone man the stage solo for an audience that didn’t appear overly familiar with his work. Admirably, Diamond Rings conquered both of these tasks as he dazzled with strong performances of “Play By Heart” and “Something Else” all while charming the crowd. He received a particularly strong response when he strapped on a guitar and rocked out to a very uptempo “Wait & See.”

Fresh off tour and recently the subject of adoration from both GQ and Spin, all eyes were on front man George Lewis as Twin Shadow opened with a stirring rendition of “Shooting Holes”. It could instantly be noted that the house sound better suited the full instrumentation of the band than it did Diamond Rings. The crowd came to life for the catchy synth-driven “When We’re Dancing” and “Castles in the Snow,” though it was a tempered excitement. This presents what seems to be an issue in seeing a band like Twin Shadow live. Described by their publicist as “hazily new-wave tinged pop” it often gets a little too hazy and sucks excitement from the air. Regardless, the band showcased a very tight sound and the left the crowd wanting more as they closed with “Tether Beat” before a encore (sans backstage) performance of “Forget.”

The small size of the venue allowed for unique opportunities as both Twin Shadow and Diamond Rings could be seen mingling in the audience before and after their performances. I caught up with Diamond Rings who admitted to feeling “somewhat limited” by the stage space. Fans can expect him to continue to push the envelope as he excitedly noted his “rapping skills” which will be further displayed on his second album, due out Summer 2012. The yet-to-be-titled LP, halfway completed to date, will attempt to “add fullness to the sound while not abandoning the bare-bones, almost folk-esque style of composition.” While that seems difficult at best to accomplish the pending attempt is admirable and interesting.