Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s took to the main stage at Webster Hall this past Thursday to perform their brand of throw back, big band 60s tunes. The 11-piece crowded the stage complete with a backdrop reminiscent of the yellow brick road headed to Oz.

The performance started strong with driving tunes like 40 Day Daydream and the audience was eager to participate. The gang vocals that texture to the album Up From Below encouraged the audience to join in throughout the set. When the band was on to their last two songs of the night, a group of at least 40 audience members were brought up on stage to join in the singing and dancing.

Although Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros started and ended strong, there was something awry throughout the set. First off, the amount of down time in between songs was oddly long. Many breaks lasted over two minutes. And although one could attribute this to the band’s purposeful lack of slick musicianship, the fact was they lost the audience. Even more notable was that several songs went into drawn out break downs that seemed to inspire the entire room to catch up on how each others work day treated them. The audience repeatedly overtook the band with chatter.

When they are on, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are solid performers with a concert friendly repertoire. But it is apparent this band is still working out some of the kinks.

—–> Live Footage filmed by jonathanhstrauss <—–