Without having to beat around the bush too hard with swirling adjectives, profound thoughts, or varied comparisons, the words “just check ‘em out” really comes to mind if I were ever asked about El Ten Eleven. Honestly, both shock and acceptance would sink in if I was told they had five (!) albums under their belt as I stepped out of The Central on Saturday, totally satisfied by what I had just seen. However, I did find that bit of information out the next day. Sometimes that’s the beauty of only listening to the music. Not “preparing” for a show if you will.
Despite quite a long wait between acts, an hour to be precise, the anticipation was most certainly charged inside the tiny Central for the local duo to show off their often mind-blowing skills. The reason behind the delay was no fault of anyone in particular. The intricacies of making sure that easily 100 different plugs need to be absolutely perfect is a craft unto itself. Such is the pratfall of being a duo that primarily creates their live sound by looping all of their weapons together. There may have been some crowd annoyance by this long wait for absolute perfection, but in the end, there wasn’t a single person inside that remembered that lost time.
Kristian Dunn & Tim Fogarty are the two masterminds names behind El Ten Eleven. When you read their Wiki page, words descriptive words aptly jump out; “experimental” & “post-rock” most frequently, and those couldn’t be more truthful, but upon enjoying them live, “creators” seems to pop into the forefront of my experience. Between the live and programmed drumming that Fogarty lays down as a partial foundation, and how Dunn was interspersing that foundation with combing not only a fretless bass, but a double neck bass/guitar combo, there left no doubt in anyone’s mind that these guys are in the utmost top form of their style and genre of live and recorded musical creation. Combining their unique journey of interspersed and highly danceable rhythms with a simple lighting setup involving a sectionally squared background, was as groovy and impressive as anything out there right now.*
All of El Ten Eleven’s albums are on Spotify if you want to sample them, Amazon if you want to buy them, and their west coast tour dates are below if you want to help them make gas money to their next show. Just check ‘em out.
(*I was more impressed with them than Muse @ Staples the following night!)
El Ten Eleven Tour Dates
http://www.elteneleven.com/
1/31/13 – Flagstaff AZ – Green Room – (21+)
2/1/13 – Scottsdale AZ – Pub Rock – (ALL AGES)
2/2/13 – Albuquerque NM – Launchpad – (21+)
2/6/13 – Breckenridge CO – Three20south – (21+)
2/7/13 – Aspen CO – Belly Up – (ALL AGES)
2/8/13 – Boulder CO – Fox Theatre – (ALL AGES)
2/9/13 – Ft. Collins – Hodi’s Half Note – (ALL AGES)
2/10/13 – Colorado Springs CO – Black Sheep – (ALL AGES)
