Normally a laid-back atmosphere, Viejas Concerts in the Park took it to the extreme on Sept. 19 with a performance by Gnarls Barkley. The duo sets a theme for each show. This evening at Viejas, the theme was pajama night.
Gnarls Barkley is comprised of two performers: Danger Mouse (real name Brian Burton), who mixes and drops all the beats to the songs, and Cee-Lo Green (real name Thomas Callaway), who provides the lyrics.
The two first met in 1998 in Atlanta. Cee-Lo was on tour with Goodie Mob and Burton was a student at the University of Georgia. The two would not end up playing together until 2003, when Cee-Lo asked to sing on a couple of tracks on a Danger Mouse project. Danger Mouse said that he did not do tracks; rather, he did albums. The groundwork for Gnarls Barkley was set in motion. They e-mailed new ideas and material to each other ” always trying to one-up the other person ” and the album “St. Elsewhere” was born.
Gnarls Barkley has a unique sound that treads on many music genres, combining funk, soul, rap, rock and electronica. The product is sheer, blissful, organic harmony.
The duo is taking the music industry by storm. Their smash No. 1 hit “Crazy” is the first ever single to top the UK Singles Chart purely on download sales, as it was released online a week before it was released as a CD single. The song remained at No. 1 for nine weeks. The last time a song remained at the top for that long was in 1994.
For their Viejas show, the performers dressed in pj’s and were accompanied by a quartet of stringed instrumentalists who all appeared to be young women. Cee-Lo dubbed them the G-String Quartet. Besides the hit “Crazy,” the songs they performed at Viejas included “Go-go Gadget,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Smiley Faes,” “Boogie Monster,” “Feng Shui,” “Just a Thought,” “Transformer” and two covers, the Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone” and “Who Scared You,” a rare B-side originally recorded by the Doors.
Gnarls Barkley has performed in various attire, dressing as characters including airline pilots, “Wizard of Oz,” chefs, tennis players and gladiators. They played the MTV Movie Awards in “Star Wars” costumes, complete with Nine Inch Nails co-founder Chris Vrenna on drums as Chewbacca. Cee-Lo dressed up as Darth Vader and Danger Mouse was Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Concerts in the Park venue is quite nice for anyone who has not been there. Viejas sells standing room only tickets, although many people bring a blanket to sit on. The overall atmosphere at Viejas is outstanding.
Only time will tell what the future holds for Gnarls Barkley. Both members are free to pursue whatever future endeavors they desire. One thing is for sure, though ” Gnarls Barkley has reminded all music lovers that music does not need to be categorized to have an impact.
For information about future concerts at Viejas, visit http://www.viejas.com/html/entertainment/citp.html.