Show: OK Go
Date: November 27, 2010
Venue: Club Nokia
City: Los Angeles, CA
OK Go
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Mike Daclan
The cold night and steady drizzle couldn’t stop the collection of the young, the old, the hipsters and the spinsters from coming out to watch Chicago quartet OK Go play an 18 song set at the diminutive Club Nokia venue this past Saturday night.
Walking on stage to the pounding bass from an 808, OK Go launched right into the high energy “Do What You Want,” from their second album Oh No, with a blast of confetti streaming overhead and into the audience. Right from the start OK Go set the pace for a fun and festive night which would include 3D music videos, miniature cameras, fuzzy guitars, shooting lasers, LED jackets, and a table full of handbells.
Throughout the show the audience was treated to shots from the “mic cams,” small cameras that were attached to the microphone stands for each member. It was great to put a face to the emotion behind a song like “Back From Kathmandu,” although when the members would get really close to the mic, the audience was treated to a close up view of their jacket buttons. Overall, the affect worked very well.
Following “Back From Kathmandu,” the band brought out a table full of hand bells and performed a great version of the song “Return” off their first self titled album. It was an amazing moment that one felt privileged to be a part of. Even non fans of the band had to appreciate the musicianship necessary to take a full on rock song and play it out on nothing but hand bells, all in proper sequence. Immediately following this highlight, the band left the stage and Lead Vocalist Damian Kulash walked into the audience with his acoustic guitar and a microphone to croon out the song “Last Leaf.” This was a very poignant moment that brought a sense of intimacy to the room for this very touching song.
After the acoustic breakdown, the audience was treated to the song “White Knuckles,” as the video played on the big screen behind the stage. Despite playing the song earlier in the set, the band now presented while the video played in 3D (3D glasses were handed out previously). Before this, Damian told the audience about an experience as a teenager seeing OMD and gave this warning to all present: “No matter how awesome your songs are, do not play your hit single three times.” It was a great experience which the audience enjoyed immensely.
Moving right along, the band powered into their iconic song “Here It Goes Again.” The band continued to keep the energy going through the night and for a few songs, they had the guitarist from opening act Summer Darling join them onstage, though not without a few friendly jabs from Damian about the motives behind bringing them out. “They’re poor!” he quipped to everyone’s amusement. His sarcastic sense of humor was present throughout the night and it was even aimed at the audience for the encore of the set.
For the final song of the encore, the band pushed the audience to yell out, “Let it go. This too shall pass,” as loud as they could to help the band during the final buildup of the song. After an anemic first try, the band egged on the audience, comparing them to the Austin, Texas and San Francisco crowds. After some teasing and do-over, the crowd was in full swing to back up the band for “This Too Shall Pass.” It was a great way to bring the audience, which had been become somewhat muted, back into the positive energy the band was putting forth and OK Go closed the night as well as it started.