Article by Chris Young
by Chris Young on February 25, 2010A mere three months after Fanfarlo said hello to Portland for the first time in November, they returned to the Doug Fir on Tuesday evening for an encore.
Identical to their last show, they took the stage as a threesome on a mandolin, acoustic guitar and pitter-patter drums to tenderly take Portland into their warm, dark embrace.
Two more materialized from the shadows and all five harmonized with echoey energy, chanting "It's all I believe in" on "I'm A Pilot."
Although the UK youngins have just one album to their name, 2009's Reservoir, Fanfarlo makes timeless music easily mistaken for Beirut. And that's okay, because there truly aren't that many bands that can capture classic on their first try. Fanfarlo is immediately vintage and charming, yet essentially relevant-a sound that will span the decades like a Pink Martini.
With a few new songs on display, a tinkering xylophone, a gorgeously aching violin, and the synchronized plucking of taut strings across an array of instruments, Fanfarlo made Portland lose themselves in a fantastical dream. Childlike reveries of soaring through bulbous clouds or delicate sunbeams breaking through a foggy bog rushed through our collective consciousness on dreamily romantic and fatally poppy tunes like "Luna" and "Harold T. Wilkins, or How To Wait For A Very Long Time."
Gracefully mixed in with the organic horns and lethargic bass were resounding synth samples, wispy distortion, and the electric guitar on a new song, "Waiting In The Wings." An a cappella opening to "The Walls Are Coming Down" built into an epic bugling horn and drums thumping in time with heartbeats.
As an encore, Fanfarlo introduced their B-side "Comets" to this side of the Atlantic with whistling joie de vivre and said goodnight with the moodily upbeat "Fire Escape."
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About the Author
Chris Young is a contributor to Oregon Music News