Review: Gardens & Villa

Wednesday, November 5th, 2014 // Blogs,Reviews

When you hear an album from a band like Gardens & Villa, you can’t help but wonder if it’s a really talented and cohesive band, or just a couple of studio wizards slaving away at a soundboard. Both groups can create great records, but the former creates a significantly better live music experience.

Walking into Club Cafe, I really hoped that I wasn’t going to experience a few dudes who were really good at playing MacBook, and not so good at playing instruments. Fortunately, Gardens & Villa is the exact opposite. By the time they launched into their second song, “Domino,” and the lead singer started playing the flute, I knew I was in for something special.

Gardens & Villa is a different type of band from the groups that dominate the indie scene today. With a lead singer who plays guitar and flute, a dedicated synth player with an array of old 80’s synthesizers from companies that must have long since gone out of business, a bassist, drummer and another synth player, there was no need for a MacBook onstage.

As Gardens & Villa played through their two-album catalog, they deftly created a wide array of sounds using simple tools and challenging themselves to think beyond the convenience of digital, utilizing analog instruments like electric pianos and recorders to create a refreshingly original sound.

Gardens & Villa’s glittery and dark brand of synth pop brought a small but passionate crowd to the show. As the night went on, the audience started being more interactive, shouting requests and words of encouragement like, “you’re awesome!” For the last three songs, a few of the audience members who had previously been standing in the back of the show rushed to the stage and started dancing in front of an otherwise seated crowd.

I couldn’t help but get the feeling that everyone at this show had been waiting for years for Gardens & Villa to play a show in Pittsburgh. Upon ending their set, the band couldn’t even make it offstage before being commanded by the audience to play an encore. When they finally finished the encore, the audience kept shouting requests for songs that the band didn’t play, with one fan even screaming, “Play every song you know!”

While Gardens & Villa isn’t the biggest band in the world, or even on the indie scene, they’ve managed to create something very special and unique in a way that very few bands do. Because they’ve taken such a unique approach to making music, they’ve been rewarded with an incredibly passionate fan base that probably checks in weekly to see if the band is up to anything new. Their show at Club Cafe was a true testament to just how talented the band is, and how dedicated their fans are.

Post by Kyle Henson.