To listen to audio on Rock Paper Scissors you'll need to Get the Flash Player
Sample Track 1:
"Cha Cha" from Balken Beat Box (JDub Records)
Sample Track 2:
"Shushan (Featuring Shushan)" from Balken Beat Box (JDub Records)
Layer 2
Concert Review
Click Here to go back.
About.com, Concert Review >>

Concert Review - Balkan Beat Box and Golem at Castaways in Ithaca, 9/17/06

Overview: Balkan Beat Box and Golem Live

Guide Rating - rating
 
The Balkan Beat Box and Golem show at Castaways in Ithaca, NY was undoubtedly the most exciting live show I've seen in months, if not years. Golem opened up the show with their punk-tinged klezmer music, and Balkan Beat Box took over with their high-energy "New Mediterraneo", blowing everyone away.

Golem Starts the Show Off Right

Golem, who were touring in support of their new album Fresh Off Boat, were not entirely what I expected, but it was a pleasant surprise! Knowing that they were wildly popular among punk-rock fans let me to assume that they were more punk than klezmer but, in fact, the opposite was true; the band was basically straight-up Eastern European Klezmer with a drummer and a touch of sexiness. Sassy multilingual vocals combined with driving rhythm... I like it!

When I mentioned to one of my punk rocker friends that it surprised me that Golem would be so popular among the punk rock crowd (considering they have both a fiddle and an accordion in the band), and he said that it's because punk fans like pretty much anything that you can mosh to. It all came clear. Golem's male vocalist, Aaron Diskin, also definitely won the prize for strangest hairstyle of the evening. His mullet-hawk alone is worth going out to see.

Where Did Balkan Beat Box Go?

After Golem finished up their set, I made the rounds to chat up my friends. At one point, the majority of Balkan Beat Box had been onstage setting up their gear, and minutes later, they had all disappeared. Now, I may be a world music geek, but I've been to enough clubs to know that when the band disappears, there's a "big entrance" coming.

Well, as usual, I wasn't wrong. The band filed in like a high school marching band drumline. Literally. They all had drums. Well, that's not true, some of them had shakers and tambourines and other little things. They marched straight up to the merchandise table, where Golem had set up their stuff, and serenaded them for a few minutes before heading up to the stage. At this point, I wasn't entirely sure what I was in for.

Balkan Beat Box Shreds the Room

Okay, so I was a little iffy about the band after they made their grand entrance... I generally find that sort of thing mildly annoying, but Golem put me in such a good mood that I decided to give Balkan Beat Box the benefit of the doubt. Glad I did. From the first note that came through the speakers, we all knew that we were seeing something special. There's nothing to quite compare Balkan Beat Box to, they sound vaguely like Manu Chao (the Mano Negra years in particular) sitting in with Gogol Bordello with Matisyahu taking on the vocals. Or something along those lines. Frontman Tomer Yosef, pleasantly shirtless after only a few songs, was a surprisingly excellent MC, with both top-notch rapping skills and an impressive ability to connect with the audience.

Overall Impressions

At the end of the night, I was totally entranced. I was ready to steal a car and follow the bands to their next shows, but, alas, it just so happened that Ithaca was their last stop on this tour. Next summer, though, I will be making every effort possible to see both of these bands again. I'd love to see them again in a small venue like Castaways (which has the benefit of being both reasonably intimate and having the best sound system in Ithaca), but somehow I feel like that's not gonna happen... with their raw talent and cross-genre appeals, I predict that both Golem and Balkan Beat Box are going to be very big, very soon.
 09/22/06 >> go there
Click Here to go back.