Capital Cities

There's a Californian from San Francisco, a Lebanese-Syrian refugee (!), a Latino and a half-Filipino guy who all meet up in Los Angeles. It's not the setup for a joke, but rather the backstory of the four musicians who took the stage at Magazzini Generali on a mild September evening — and we're pointing it out just to underline how singular it is, given that their genre of choice isn't West Coast rock, still less maqam, but the most playful synth-dance imaginable.

Dressed in snug casual wear, all four sporting black bomber jackets with Capital Cities printed on the back, the four adopted Angelenos did everything they could to liven up the evening, helped by a crowd that was as lively as it was — unfortunately — sparse. No stand-up comedy here, mind you, but plenty of gags and musical fun that happily lived up to the promise of their debut album.

The line-up is anchored by the two vocalists and leaders, keyboardist Sebu Simonian, an Armenian born in Syria and raised in Lebanon (need we say more?) — something of a lookalike for Giobbe Covatta — and Ryan Merchant, who wields a guitar, probably just for show: in terms of resemblance, we're in Mirko Vucinic territory here, but in a better-looking version. Rounding out the group, and providing the soul that fires up their live shows, are bassist Manny Quintero and, above all, trumpeter Spencer Ludwig, who carves out a much bigger role live than he has in the studio recordings.

Capital Cities don't hold back on surprises right from the start, since their calling card for the occasion is "Breathe". What's that you say? The famous Swatch-soundtrack song by Midge Ure? Not at all — here the reference is to the far more classic Pink Floyd watch, lifted straight from the jewelry shop of "The Dark Side Of The Moon", worn for the occasion alongside an electro-funky evening gown that winks at Steely Dan. There are covers, and then there are covers — this one draws smiles and applause in abundance.

The limitation of not having a flesh-and-blood drummer, and the resulting presence of two laptops onstage, is nicely offset by a decent knack for improvisation that keeps the next two songs, this time drawn from "In A Tidal Wave of Mystery", spinning along nicely: even if they stick fairly close to the album versions, both "Chartreuse" and "Kangaroo Court" do a fine job of warming up the crowd.

"Farah Fawcett Hair", on the other hand, winks at a Caribbean-tinged Robert Palmer, especially in the unplanned reggae coda, while "Patience Gets Us Nowhere" gives us a taste of what New Musik might have sounded like with a trumpet stuck in their mouths: from this point on, Spencer takes up even more space, and the show is all the better for it.

Sebu then introduces the "Capital Cities shuffle", the house dance move, and duly instructs the crowd on how to do it: "Little step to the right, clap, little step to the left, double clap and, if you like, a spin". Well, set to the notes of a necessarily bonsai-sized transposition of Earth Wind And Fire's "Center Stage", and under the guidance of instructors Sebu and Ryan, it all works like a charm, with the crowd turning into a cheerful bunch caught up in the classic group dance.

After the '90s dance interlude of "Origami", here comes another prank from these jokers, who literally announce a "back to seventy-eight" (seventy-seven, if we're being pedantic) rendition of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive", obviously performed without the Gibb brothers' unreachable falsettos, but with the irresistible irony provided, among other things, by the two singers' synchronized moves — the same ones John Travolta made famous.

After a rather flattering comparison Ryan tosses out between Los Angeles and Milan as two great capitals of fashion (easy there, Ryan: on that front, Los Angeles can at best tag along), "Love Away" kicks in and, shaped this way, takes on the guise of "Sunshine Reggae": for those less advanced in years, we're talking about a famous 1982 hit by Danish duo Laid Back.

Then comes the evening's standout pairing: "I Sold My Bed But Not My Stereo" ("listen to my Pink Floyd cover/ take a seat like a backbeat lover") which, if we've managed to convey the kind of band we're dealing with, unwittingly becomes their mission statement, followed by the summer's super-hit "Safe And Sound", greeted with the roar of a crowd who clearly showed they'd already danced to it plenty of times, in plenty of other places.

Only an hour has flown by, but the sense that this is (almost) it is confirmed by the farewells that precede the set's third cover, the Madonna classic "Holiday", which Spencer Ludwig's tireless trumpet (excellent, truly) steers into the improbable territory once occupied by Pigbag: here too, there's that subtle touch of originality that sets it apart from mere karaoke. It really does seem to be over, as our friends put down their instruments and take their bows — but then the strobe lights kick in as the speakers simultaneously blast out an ultra-techno-trance version of "Safe And Sound".

And what do Sebu and Ryan do? Naturally, they dive into the crowd to keep the dancing happening going, complete with circle dances and the inevitable smartphone photos to post on Facebook in real time. If you're into colorful fun and smart irony, make sure not to miss them: "like Michael Jackson Thriller, like Farah Fawcett hair, it's good shit".

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