Jonathan Bree, head of indie record label Lil’ Chief Records, has been an artist-launching presence for over 20 years. Based in New Zealand, LCR has produced music videos that have totaled 200 million views. With a clear knack for the visual, Bree himself has been performing indie-pop — primarily in a beguiling mask and costume combo. He honed these looks to perfection in his 2018 video for “You’re So Cool.” Bree brought the whole damn masked band halfway around the world for his current east coast tour, which I caught last Saturday night in Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom.
The group played mid-tempo, synth-pop in the vein of Daft Punk, (they even collabed with Random Access Memories guitarist Nile Rodgers on the latest single “Miss You”), but Bree’s band is definitely more rock as everything is played live. Also instead of vocoders, there’s a baritone voice crooning into a red lightsaber mic stand. Darth Bree demands your attention.
When you get the chance to see an indie-pop prophet play sad futuristic disco, you take it. I have heard that “prophets don’t get to be king,” hence the performance I experienced at the 500 capacity Crystal Ballroom last Saturday night was an intimate one. But if you knew you knew. The crowd was mad for the group, as the band bopped around in mod wigs and gogo boots (except for the drummer who wore Vans, understandably).
Jonathan Bree brought a sensational dancer named Kasia Pachelska, to whom he liberally ceded the stage to during instrumental breaks. The contrast of the dancer served as a buoyant foil to Bree’s brooding stage persona. Pachelska’s moves were highly improvisational, with a heavy dose of crisp choreo. There was flashy contemporary movement along with a hint of ballet for good measure.
Pachelska’s permanently smiling opera mask provided a joyful difference to the stoic and faceless Bree and band. The theatrical light/dark binary was especially on display when Bree and Pachelska were giving out roses to the audience. The former was crushing the flowers up in his fist and chucking the petals. The latter was gently handing out flowers by the stem.
Pachelska’s spritely character bordered on playing the role of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Although instead of being just a prop to Bree’s protagonist, as the archetype would suggest, the dancer in Jonathan Bree’s show was actually a co-star. She had lead singing and instrumental duties in addition to the high-kick background moves. Nevertheless they touched on uncomfortable gender stereotypes which became a play-within-a-concert. “You’re up, I’m down, you’re blind, I see,” Bree deemed on “Until We’re Done.”
When the band was done, all six performers lingered for a long goodbye, waving and blowing kisses from the stage as “Fools Rush In” by Elvis (1973) played on the mains. The rapturous applause quickly reconfigured itself into a line at the merch table. Like the roses in Jonathan Bree’s hands, the group crushed it.
