Interview

The crowd at (Le) Poisson Rouge last night was filled with LA ambiguity and hipster dissent as the opening acts took the stage.  A cowboy ghost made the introductions; a guy who beat-boxed and played keyboard poorly started it off, followed by an NYU accapella group. Then came an elderly female yoga guru, a knife-juggling sideshow double jointed freak, and a couple of violin players bedecked with feathers and yodeling tunes. The crowd grew restless.  A girl turned to me: "When does the Coney Island high school talent show end?"

Forty-five minutes later, Dead Man's Bones took the stage. Theatrics were to be expected from a band fronted by two actors, Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields.  After the openers, the audience was restive with anticipation.

Gosling and Shields came forward, wearing matching vaudevillian black-and-white attire.  A small choir crept out, filling in the backdrop along with additional band members.  The children of St. Peter's church of Philadelphia, dressed in the nostalgic garb of 1950's-era trick-or-treaters, swaying in time and earnestly oohing and aahing, began to sing.  Gosling, looking like a young Vincent Price with a voice that recalled Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash, traded lead vocals and multiple instruments with Shields throughout the set. Earnest and composed, Gosling performed without the sense of entitlement or rambunctiousness one might expect from an Oscar nominee. The duo walked the tight rope of equality while the choir taking center stage.

Softly lit against a backdrop of a haunted house, the children, in white robes and skeleton facepaint, cooed out the simple choruses and rhythmic handclaps. A Nancy Sinatra cover, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," with a ghostly choir girl singing the lead in a vulnerable and sincere tone, was a memorable gem. Later, the children danced and tossed candy while loudly chanting the chorus to "My Bodie's a Zombie for You." Following a faux exit, the dynamic duo returned with the strongest song of the night, "Your Name in Stone." The choir, looking confident and comfortable, belted out in unison like a group of young campers on the last night of summer.

Overall, the performance was macabre without being morose. With undertones ranging from Danny Elfman to Roky Erickson, Dead Man's Bones cojured up a vision of a child's charmed Halloween, one filled with lovelorn zombies and ghosts with hearts of gold.  Though it's a familiar tale, they succeeded in making you forget they can act, too.