mass culture

Polyphonic Spree – All Photos by Mass Culture

Last night marked the second night of Dallas’ North By Southwest, the very new, very unpublicized four-day concert event. I arrived shortly before Salim Nourallah’s excellent set to find myself among roughly 25 people at the massive outdoor stage. What happened? These were great bands, performing for almost no one. Salim essentially played for me, his family, a handful of fans, and the sound crew.

A woman running concessions told me that “apparently the coordinators rushed the whole thing.” “They waited too long, and didn’t advertise or do anything to really get the word out,” she said. “It’s been pretty deserted all day.”

Attendance problems aside, the performances I caught were excellent. Dallas’ Salim Nourallah happily bopped around the stage with his band, performing tracks from his back catalog, as well as a few new tracks. Most memorable: a sincere “The World Is Full Of People Who Want To Hurt You” while his son frantically ran around the audience, Salim’s eyes following the entire time.

I had a brief chance to sit down with Salim, shoot a few photos, and discuss his newest record, which was recently completed.

Salim Nourallah

It’s called “Snowing In My Heart,” and is slated for release this year on Western Vinyl (Tapete in Europe). The record features Rick Nelson (Polyphonic Spree) helping with strings, as well as the Noise, Salim’s regular live band.

Salim Nourallah and the ever-so-beautiful Noise:

After Salim’s set, the crowd started to thicken as the Polyphonic Spree’s set drew closer. Eventually, after their usual endless soundcheck, the speakers grew quiet and the band took the stage, one by one, in their new “Fragile Army” uniforms. Tim DeLaughter entered last, of course, but it was nice not to see him portrayed in Jesus’ fashion.

The ‘Spree were at their best tonight, performing mostly tracks from “Together We’re Heavy.” I noticed that they are taking a much more pop/rock approach, focusing more on the music and less trying to fit as many instruments as possible. There’s less of a gimmick, and it’s way more worthwhile.

While the “Heavy” material and new songs were great, their finest moment tonight was definitely “It’s The Sun,” which was changed enough to be a different song.

It began with some Nico-esque guitar under Tim singing with the very intimate audience. Violin and harp came in gently, and by the time the chorus started, the entire band was in full swing. When the song would have normally ended, the drummer simply changed the rhythm to a more break-beat style while everyone else crescendoed into an extension of varying rhythms. And yeah, Tim was dancing like a sunny-day hippie. I lost track of the time after about 11 minutes. It was quite a spectacle.

The Polyphonic Spree

More Polyphonic Spree photos after the jump!

Also, check back tomorrow for coverage from tonight’s highly-anticipated Cassavettes show.