Ghostland Observatory, Sunday, October 9, 2011
Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
My post Ghostland “high”
is still going strong. This two man band
really knows how to put on a show! You might
not have heard of Ghostland Observatory (most people haven’t), but you do have
ears (most people do), so get on it! You
may ask, “What type of music do they play?”
Or, “Who do they sound like?” These
are not easy questions. They have been
described as elecronica, rock, funk, new wave, etc. But Ghostland doesn’t easily fit into a genre, and they sound like no one. All I can
say is that from the time they took the stage Sunday night, until their
synchronized bow at the end, I never stopped dancing! Days later, my calves hate me but my smile
and rock heart are happy! So who are
these guys?
The band consists of
two dudes from Austin, Texas. The lead
singer and guitarist is Aaron Kyle Behrens and the keyboarder, synchronizer,
drummer and robot voice dude is Thomas Ross Turner. But to me Aaron is better known as the “man
with the braids who can really dance” and Thomas is the mysterious man in the body
sized Texas state flag cape. Yes, body sized
Texas state flag cape. Their stage setup involves
multiple strobe lights, lasers and fog machines. They define the old saying, “Two is a party!” But wait….lasers? Robot voices? Is this band really any good? Let me paint a picture for you.
The venue’s piped in
music finally ends and the lights go down.
The start of a show creates “butterflies” like no other, except perhaps
a plane taking off. The stage is dark
and there is a quiet beat growing louder.
The first sign of life is a security guard with a flashlight pointing to
the ground. He leads the band across the
dark stage and with the first glimpse of the band, the crowd erupts. Thomas takes his place at his percussion command
center and Aaron takes the mic with his back to us. The crowd quiets in anticipation and the
sound of Aaron’s voice masked by echo starts filling the room. The sound is low, guttural and
indiscriminate. It gets a little
louder. And louder still. Then all in an instant the sound of a
familiar song explodes, the lasers come on and Aaron spins to life! The audience is euphoric and sings along,
dances and cheers! When Aaron was not
behind the guitar he was moving along the stage like a cheetah stocking prey. He has such range of motion with his body
that the only adjective to describe his style of dance is fluid! He obliged his fans by dancing close to the
edge of the stage and shook hands with us!
The show continued like this for two hours and seemed to pass by in
minutes. There was an encore thrown in
there somewhere but lasted mere minutes. We were all sucked in to a different world for a few hours. A world of funky beats and endless dancing!
I left the show with
ears ringing and a tired body. Fortunately, the venue is small and my car was a hundred feet from the building. It was a Sunday night after all and this old
lady had work in the morning. But for
those two hours, I was 16. Concerts are real
time machines. I know a few blonde ladies who would agree with me! A handful of blonde
women in their early fifties were there this time and the last time I saw Ghostland. They were the first in line to get in, and they were at the front of the stage the whole night. I mean pressed against the front of the stage, as close as you can get. They danced and
knew every word to every song, at both shows.
This is the power of music… it knows no age.
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| Me with my sweet cheetah glasses
I’ve seen them before, and I’ll see them again and again!
Enjoy the pictures and videos.
Break out of your rut and try something new! Check out Ghostland Observatory!!!
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Pardon the quality of the pictures, I wasn't allowed to bring in my real camera. These are all brought to you by the iphone. I am working on how I can get a press pass for upcoming shows so that I can bring in my badass camera!
"Stranger Lover," Paprazzi Lightning
"Dancing on my Grave," Robotique Majestique
Albums:
delete.delete.i.eat.meat (2005), Trashy Moped Recordings
Paparazzi Lightning (2006), Trashy Moped Recordings
Robotique Majestique (2008), Trashy Moped Recordings
Codename: Rondo (2010), Trashy Moped Recordings
Trashy Moped Recordings is Thomas Ross Turner's record label.
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