The Bell House
Brooklyn, New York
Words by Webb Allen
Photos by Paul Malonzo
It starts with a plane crash. The corrugated cardboard airplane destroyed in the first two minutes of Previously on Lost’s show establishes a strong homemade, whimsical vibe for the Brooklyn seven piece band. An idea produced casually- build a 12 foot long plane and absolutely destroy it before the first song starts; a band who’s every song takes direct inspiration from an episode of ABC’s Lost- yet implemented so wholeheartedly and so much enthusiasm that their impulsive concept is transformed into something absolute.
Embracing melodrama and avoiding any form of schmaltz by refusing to acknowledge its existence, the band member’s start off with episode 1 season 4, “We’re Going Home,” the band is optimistic and hopeful about leaving their island behind. The two lead singers demonstrate great rapport and stage presence by keeping things coherent into the second song of the set, “Just Wink,” about non verbal communication in apparently dire circumstances.
Moving into the third song though is when the band began to gradually lose their dominance over the increasingly contrived and intricate plot of Lost the show. Instead of choosing one or two key events per episode/song, the band seemed to let the recap concept eclipse their musical talent and accessibility of their song writing. Near the end of the set though the band and audience had a lot of fun with a recap of George Carlin’s entire repertoire of jokes and picked up momentum for the final songs.
Like Previously on Lost, supporting performer Reggie Watts can be pigeonholed as a gimmick or concept act of acapella beat boxing and singing. A great performer, Reggie Watts knew exactly how to shape the flow of his act, moving from impressive vocal talents, to technical live mixing and deft comedic interludes between songs. On stage he demonstrated complete comfort and skill in acapella performance, his chosen form of expression. When other artists use live overdubbing the loops can get repetitive and the sense of live improvisation and musical improvisation is lost, but Reggie Watts did a great job keeping track of each layer of the song, controlling all layers of percussive rhythm, providing choirs of vocal loops to back himself up and changing time signatures or pitch at will.
Previously on Lost and Reggie Watts both take advantage of the momentum gained from being a concept act. It is great to see them perform one after another on the same stage to witness the particular differences in their approaches to music and how they present themselves.
