REPORTING LIVE: ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI

Typical Monday night: plop down on the couch, whine about my upcoming week to anyone who will listen (read: my cats), and binge-watch Law and Order: Criminal Intent until I finally fall asleep to nightmares of being brutally murdered on the T. My Monday night at The Paradise for the Architecture in Helsinki show: witnessed a very public marriage proposal, danced like a crazy person, scarfed down a celebratory cupcake passed down from the stage, and sweated out said-cupcake through a continuation of out-of-control, utterly joyous, limbs-flailing-everywhere dancing.

This show bordered dangerously on perfection.

Although the opening band, Hooray for Earth, generated only meager enthusiasm when they first came onstage, it didn’t take long for their energy to infect the crowd. The lyrics weren’t easy to make out, but the percussion was strong and the synth was hard to resist. Head bobbing ensued. Of those in attendance who didn’t already know about this band (myself included), I’d say about 85% of us were convinced by the end of the set to go home and download their latest album, True Loves. For those who weren’t so easily won over by the 80’s synth pop-iness of it all, seeing “Tiffany Clements, will you marry me?” projected earnestly on the backdrop behind the band was pretty freaking heart melting. Especially when Tiffany SAID YES and climbed on the stage for the last song, blushing madly but playing the tambourine like an old pro. We had come to the show expecting nothing more than great music, and we left with an indie-rock love story.

Every girl in attendance collectively ‘awww’-ed.

That Beep by Architecture In Helsinki

Levels of giddiness continued to heighten, and when the guys and gal of Architecture in Helsinki floated onstage and launching into an amped up rendition of “Desert Island,” from their newest album, Moment Bends, we nearly lost our shit.

From the sparkly blue synthesizers to the drummer’s flamboyantly polka dotted shirt, the band looked as jazzed up and joyful as the music felt.

I felt like I was on a moon bounce, the amount of hopping around that was going on in the crowd. The only excuse you could for not dancing would be if you were paralyzed from the waist down.

AiH played most of the songs off Moment Bends, and even those that I hadn’t been too amped about, like “Sleep Talkin,’” captured a much more energetic sound when played live. When Kellie Sutherland launched into an excessively effervescent “That Beep,” the band Backstreet Boy-ed it up with some choreographed dance moves that sort of made me wish that I had some choreographed dance moves.

Some of the most appreciated songs though were the oldies. “Do the Whirlwind” off 2005’s In Case We Die and “Like It Or Not” (Places Like This, 2007) were welcome reminders of AiH’s old, slightly more bizarre sound. And any secret partiality that I had had for Dr. Dog’s cover of “Heart It Races” immediately dissipated upon seeing the Aussies play it live. Oh, and did I mention that somewhere amidst all that dance partying we lucky fans at the front were lavished with Bruins-inspired cupcakes? Sweet victory.

Architecture in Helsinki closed the show with “Contact High” after a 3-song encore that I wished could have lasted longer, leaving the crowd drenched in sweat with big, goofy grins.

Contact High by Architecture In Helsinki