Dirty Projectors Carnegie Hall Show: Glances of History, Gleams of Brilliance

The lights darken, a door off to the left cracks open, out steps David Longstreth solo. He calmly walks to the front of the stage of Carnegie Hall and begins a rendition of "Swing Lo Magellan" alone with his guitar. As the nucleus for the living organism of a band called the Dirty Projectors, Longstreth starting the show alone onstage with the title track of their latest record was the perfect, understated move. Playing with melody and phrasing like a cat pawing yarn, his yearning voice seemed to both take in and project the gravity of the moment -- the honor and just deserts of his brainchild-band playing the historic hall.

The Dirty Projectors as a musical project are a bit like the Wizard of Oz – emerald green, ephemeral, and floating above – Longstreth is the man behind the curtain working the dials but the rest of the band are this beautiful hologram of sound and fury. Take Amber Coffman's bellowing pipes on what is perhaps the band's most powerful cut, "Stillness is the Move" for example. Appearing toward the end of their set at Carnegie, this track metaphorically brought the audience to their knees as the ever mild-mannered Coffman shrieked into the mic with perfect pitch, dragging her vocals ever higher and pacing the stage like a newly-challenged lioness.

Often accompanied throughout the set by the orchestral artistry of yMusic, the fullness of a string and brass section fleshed out the already robust sound of the group. A highlight from their appearances was the enjoyment with which one violinist finger-plucked his strings at different moments to create just the right jumpy vibe – to see a professional orchestra musician grinning while he performed, that sums up the kind of music the Dirty Projectors create.

With the hint of a special guest looming like the shadow of a circling bird of prey, the audience gasped with shocked delight and secret pleased confirmation when Angel Deradoorian ascended the stage with her strange stoicism. While she was onstage, it was nearly impossible to look away from her impassive visage. Even while chirping out "Two Doves" a song that may very well be the sweetest love song of the last few decades, her strict composure was fascinating.

With Angel onstage, the group took the time to perform several selections from their Mount Wittenberg Orca EP – a charity effort they put out with Bjork in 2010 to raise money for coral reef preservation. These strange, fairy-like tunes felt more like whalesong or rune-based chants than 21st century compositions, but the palpable rareness of hearing them live permeated the hall with somber presence.

After the departure of the on-hiatus Angel, the group meandered through several other cuts from 2009's Bitte Orca and a few more Swing Lo Magellan tracks. Most memorable was the jungle-rhythm-rollick of "About to Die," on which Longstreth flubbed the lyrics and was guided back on track by Coffman's steady reminders. What was memorable wasn't the mistake, but the fact that most of the audience probably wouldn't have realized it even was one. The liberties that Longstreth purposefully takes with lyrical delivery and cadences serve as a startling counterpoint to the precision his trio of female vocalists stick to with near-religious fervor. His take on vocal stylings comes off as a sort of aural Cubism – the fracturing and confusing perspective changes create a whole new picture, invoke hosts of new meaning and essentially, paint into view a new form of auditory practice – one that will no doubt trickle into the work of his successors.

But Dave's spontaneity would feel careless without the practiced, enthusiastic drumming of Mike Johnson, the steady doo-wop bass grooves of Nat Baldwin (equally blissed out on stand up and electric bass no less) and the operatic precision of his female vocalists. Haley Dekle is almost unnoticeable, a trait that displays her blending abilities and pitch-perfection above all else. Olga Bell, the newest addition to the crew, claps and performs with secret smiles of appreciation, shooting pleased glances around the stage as one who knows her good fortune to be included among such amiable, inspiring conspirators. As for Longstreth, it's his physical humor onstage that is most striking – he bobs and weaves like a hybrid of Jim Carrey possessed by the Mask and David Byrne's mid '80s stage antics.

The two-and-a-half hour set contained selections from just about every record in the group's extensive catalogue, including the delicate elegy "While You Are Here" penned for TV on the Radio's late Gerard Smith, off their most recent About to Die EP. Yet, it was still tracks off their latest full-length Swing Lo Magellan that struck me most deeply. The celebratory euphoria of "Unto Caesar," the unwavering hope in "Dance For You" and quiet, revolutionary call-to-arms "Irresponsible Tune" speak deep messages to the swaying, transitory generation that is currently coming of age.

While respectfully drawing on predecessors, this group is entirely unafraid to expand into novel territory, at times with brazen disregard for tradition or worn-out "the way it is" tropes. One of the two encores given last night reveals this theme with telling precision, "Gun Has No Trigger" bullets past action-packed rock songs and choral arrangements with hyper speed – revealing in its wake a strange lament on modernity's dis-associations. No need for loss of hope though, as long as strange choirs and a now-grown teenage composer can climb to the heights of Carnegie Hall triumph, our trigger-less society is still capable of monumental victories.