GNARLS BARKLEY
AT THE FILLMORE AT IRVING PLAZA
SUNDAY, JUNE 8TH 2008
WORDS: CAMERON COOK
PHOTOS AND VIDEO: ABBEY BRADEN

I’ve never been in an Amazonian rainforest, or studied the social behaviors of silverback gorillas in the Congo, but I imagine that if I had visited one of those locales on a hot summer’s day it would be pretty comparable to what I just experienced at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza. For the occasion of MySpace’s 150th event in their “Secret Show” series, the social networking empire secured Gnarls Barkley to headline the packed-to-the-gills, sold out performance, which is all fine and well, until you realize that thousands of bodies crammed inside a poorly-ventilated rock and roll venue does not make for immediate goodtimes. “It’s hot as a motherfucker up in here!” duly proclaimed Cee-Lo Green (the front man and one half of Gnarls, for those living in an alternate reality) as he removed first his tuxedo jacket, then his maternity-sized white button-up as the temperatures rose to ridiculous levels. “Are my areolae showing?” he inquired directly after, which illustrated why I could watch Cee-Lo Green eat a tuna fish sandwich and be amazed: no matter the situation, his persona can’t help but shine through the muck and create indelible entertainment out of nowhere. Even if he were a mechanic or something, people would be bringing in their cars for extra oil changes just to bro down with him. That, and he looks like the Chesire Cat had sex with an alien. Amazing.

Even when, during the epitome of the set (their 2006 mega-hit “Crazy”, obviously), when he had to turn the mic over to the throngs of sweaty fans due to his throat almost blowing out, it was almost as an act of infinite acknowledgement. Frankly, the only thing we missed were the crazy costumes from the first tour. Of course, Dangermouse graced the stage with his presence as well, keeping quiet behind his aviators and synthesizer, getting up only to jam on some xylophones during “Gone Baby Gone". Speaking of, when the crowd went crazy for that one, the latent (ok, not so latent) music snob in me had to question how many people in the rather, shall we say common crowd knew that the track was a classic Violent Femmes cover—until it dawned on me, Gnarls are bigger than snobs and frats, they didn’t choose the "Gone Baby Gone" because it was cool to cover but because it’s a good song, and I’m an asshole.

As soon as the band finished the gooey crowd fled towards the exits and the mildly cooler outside weather. I can confidently dub the evening near perfect show from a perfect band, though next time perhaps the Fillmore could do us all a favor and bump the AC.

SELTIST:
Charity Case / Suprise / Gone Daddy Gone / Run / Blind Mary / Just a Thought
/ Going On / Whatever / Boogie Monster / Neighbors / Storm Coming / Crazy /
A Little Better //Save My Soul / Smiley Faces

VIDEO:
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (Live at the Fillmore)