Broken Bells: James Mercer

Broken Bells: James Mercer

Maybe the only thing Broken Bells doesn’t have going for it is band history. Just formed in the autumn of 2009 by two fantastic musicians from very different backgrounds in James Mercer (The Shins) and Dangermouse (Gnarls Barkley), and then suddenly blossoming by way of Mercer’s superb songwriting skills and Dangermouse’s magical studio finesse to produce the hit eponymous album released this spring, all that remained was to develop a live show. This afternoon at the Red Marquee, this odd couple of Portland indie meets trans-Atlantic hip hop was joined by five other musicians. Mercer was of course on vocals and guitar, and Dangermouse’s efforts at learning instruments just for this band produced credible results on drums and keyboards, if he looked like he was trying too hard at times. Extra percussion, bass, keyboards and more guitars rounded out the band, which started with a spaced-out Pink Floyd style intro before kicking things off with the song October.

It was a very solid and very enjoyable set, though it would be hard to call it gripping, rousing or mind-blowing. A lazy mid-afternoon crowd was more ready to be wooed than to explode, and they did indeed start to come alive with the third tune, Ghost Inside. Then when the band got to Take the High Road a couple notches further down the playlist, there was no looking back.

Broken Bells songs are incredibly well crafted and well written, with Mercer deserving a great deal of credit. One would not be surprised to see him as a John Fogerty-type figure someday, though one has to wonder what band people will remember him for – with the music he’s making now and the way he’s splitting his time between projects, it’s still very much an open question.

And if anything detracts from the wonderful young phenomenon of Broken Bells, it has to be the lack of a back catalogue and the short time the audience has had to get to know the material. Maybe a set fusing the Shins, Gnarls Barkley and Broken Bells would have been impossible, but as good as Mercer and Dangermouse are, their putting on a very good live show didn’t seem quite enough. We wanted them to be fantastic.