
The Polyphonic Spree
A religious experience tailor made for the soul hardened agnostic hipster scene would be a good way to describe a Polyphonic Spree concert. Tim Delaughter’s unabashed joy is infectious enough to cultivate a Dead Head-esque cult of Jesus-robe-wearing followers, who have, throughout the band’s history, been allowed to join in on the on-stage festivities.
Last time I saw the group, I was standing in awe at the back of the auditorium when Tim abruptly stopped a song and sang a couple lines of Cartoon Bikini, a song we wrote together when he was still in Tripping Daisy, followed by a ‘Hello, Ron English, I see you back there’. My wife looked at me and said, ‘Did that really just happen?’ At the end of the concert, I realized I couldn’t go back to being the person I had been before the show.
Tagged: Cartoon Bikini, ron english, The Polyphonic Spree, Tim Delaughter
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Sune Ehlers is Planet Earth’s finest doodler. We interviewed him recently: Do you compulsively doodle? ‘Yes. At fourteen my dad brought me to see a doctor and I was diagnosed with duudlenza: a compulsion to mess up all surfaces with Biros’. Read more
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