Ivy has the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands at Sony Hall in New York City

Any commentary about the musical centerpiece of this article necessitates an acknowledgment of me being under layers of ignorance and coming to terms with it. First, as a child of the mixtape generation (living in Mumbai in India at the time) in the 90s, I was convinced that the best songs on an album were the singles and that ANY song on the album NOT released as a single probably lay comfortably outside the realm of radio-ready fodder that I had an insatiable craving for – which also formed the basis for what I feature on the 24/7 online radio broadcast for Radio Crème Brulee (the online music radio station that this blog is attached to). Second, when I did come across a sonic gem from an album, I very often treated these moments of musical serendipity as one-offs and did not bother doing a deep dive into the entire album or into that artist’s back-catalog. Hence, even though the song “Worry About You” (from the album Long Distance) by three-piece pop band Ivy (featuring Dominique Durand, Andy Chase, and Adam Schlesinger from the band Fountains Of Wayne) featured on our first-ever playlist launched by Radio Crème Brulee back in early 2007, I just thought of them (I discovered this song 3 years prior) as a downtempo electronic act. Not only is this a woefully inaccurate characterization of the band’s stunning spectrum of musical versatility (that also includes shimmering guitar pop, up-tempo electronic music, and minor forays into jazzy territory), but it demonstrates an inexcusable laziness on my part to not dig deeper. Third, I shamefully attached their “Indie” label to this idea that they were probably NOT radio-friendly despite adding songs such as “Keep Moving” (from their 2005 album “In the Clear”) and “Say Goodbye” (from their covers album “Guestroom”) to our radio broadcast. They continued to stay confined in the periphery of my musical headspace for many years while I was also passively introducing them to my radio station’s global audience. It was last year that they were randomly catapulted back into my consciousness with “Mystery Girl” from their album Traces of You – their first in 14 years, and also their first since the premature demise of Adam Schlesinger from Covid19 complications in early 2020. The song felt like a return to an old acquaintance that I had pleasant memories of but never took the time to nurture a longstanding relationship with. This revisitation of Ivy took me down a sonic journey of euphoric discovery. I felt like I had inadvertently tripped into a musical goldmine that included the stunning albums Apartment Life and Long Distance. The former just might be one of the greatest pop albums of the 90s. I feel less guilty about missing the former since at the time of its release, I was living in India and with their album technically on an Indie label (albeit owned by a major label), I knew I did not stand a chance of organically stumbling across it there in the pre-internet era. Missing Long Distance despite liking “Worry About You” is inexcusable for a music curator like me. I was both upset and ecstatic at the same time as I waded intentionally through the band’s eclectic back-catalog. I found myself drawn in by the seductive Francophone cadence in lead singer Dominique Durand’s vocal aesthetic. With Ivy, there is a certain magic that is difficult to explain. I found myself asking myself a series of questions most notably “How could I miss this?”. The band’s interview with producer and youtuber Rick Beato was the final nudge for me to scratch off “Buy my concert ticket for Ivy at Sony Hall” from my to-do list and judging by yesterday evening at Sony Hall, I am so glad I did.

The evening kicked off with two very stylistically different opening acts that performed in quick succession. This was fitting given that it is quite difficult to box Ivy into a single musical category. Attaching any genre-label to them is likely to be a labeling misfire. The very pretty singer-songwriter Dominique Da Silva embodied a dreamy optimism and innocence (despite her moderately provocative translucent lavender dress) that manifested in the way she moved on stage and worked the audience. In fact, her sartorial simplicity and the way she pranced across the stage occasionally reminded me of pop queen Belinda Carlisle – who I had watched in concert 3 years ago on that exact same stage. The songs were largely downtempo with “Tingle” and “Derniere Danse” being the highlights. Brooklyn duo (also featuring a keyboard player) Sex Week had a radically different stage presence. The music was vibey, electronic, and dark. Singer Pearl Amanda Dickson looks like a VERY young version of Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry in her commercial prime and definitely has that “performer” aesthetic going for her. That being said, her vocal style was one that led to it being overpowered by the instrumental and backing tracks during the performance. Her co-vocalist and guitarist Richard Orofino’s vocals pierced through far more easily. I am still on the fence on what I think about them based on last night’s performance but am curious enough to dig into their catalog a little.

Ivy emerged on stage soon after to deafening screams and cheers far more fitting for those that are conventional celebrities that have benefited immensely from mainstream avenue promotion. The fact that Ivy could generate this without any of that is a testament to their music and its undeniable staying power. They kicked off their stunning set with “Keep Moving” from their 2005 album “In the Clear”. One thing jumped out immediately as they performed this song with gusto. The use of live drums elevated all these songs. Prior to last night, I thought of “Keep Moving” as a loungey downtempo track but its live rendition straddled genres in the way that the band itself has through their 30+ years of existence. Lead singer Dominique Durand in her sparkly dress had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand as the band flitted from one sonic gem to another from each of their albums. It should be no surprise that no songs from the electronic uptempo album “All Hours” were featured given Andy Chase’s muted enthusiasm for the album. The horn sections on both the cinematic “Undertow” (from the Long Distance album) and “This Is The Day” (featured in hit movie “There’s Something About Mary” starring Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, and Ben Stiller) were some of the most euphoric moments of the evening. The male harmonies from both Andy Chase and Bruce Driscoll (also one half of Blondfire – a band that our radio station’s listeners are undoubtedly familiar with thanks to us playing the living daylights out of songs such as “Walking with Giants” and “Always the Last to Know” quite regularly) on the line “we can begin again” was a pretty vocal embellishment on the brilliant “I Think Of You” (incidentally, this song has become the gateway track for most of our radio listeners that were formerly unaware of Ivy’s music). Being as close to the stage as I was, allowed me to focus closely on the achingly beautiful guitar sections by Bruce Driscoll – who, by many measures, has become a de facto member of the band and a key mastermind to bringing their last album Traces of You to life.

In a rather predictable fashion, their performance of “Edge Of The Ocean” (their most known song thanks to its inclusion in the television shows such  “Roswell” and “Grey’s Anatomy”) was part of the 3-song encore. The audience sang along for this one. One would expect this to be the closing track but interestingly enough, it wasn’t. From the very beginning of their career, Ivy has unapologetically and admirably stayed unshackled from convention with regards to their professional trajectory. Hence, it should be no surprise that their closing track is emblematic of this spirit while also providing a subtle glimpse into their genesis as a creative unit. In an interview with youtuber and producer Rick Beato over a month ago, Andy Chase indicated that in 1991, he placed an ad in the magazine “Village Voice” when looking for members to put a band together. To “root everyone out” and ensure that his prospective collaborators shared the same musical sensibilities, he emphatically stated that respondents to his ad “had to know and like” the following bands – Prefab Sprout, Everything But The Girl, and The Go-Betweens (incidentally, we play BOTH the hits and the lesser-known gems of the first two of these acts regularly on our 24/7 global online music radio broadcast). The closing track was an effervescent rendition (also featured on their covers album “Guestroom”) of “The Streets Of Your Town” by Australian pop/rock band The Go-Betweens.

Like most concerts do, this one had its share of missed opportunities – most of which stem from the band having to make tradeoffs with regards to their setlist – a natural byproduct of being incredibly prolific as a creative unit in the years Adam Schlesinger was an integral part of Ivy. It has also been over a decade and a half since the band last toured during which it is very likely that they passively courted new fans (me included) who are probably seeing them for the first time in concert. They undoubtedly had to accommodate the contradictory needs of promoting a new album (i.e. Traces of You featuring the brilliant “Heartbreak”, “Mystery Girl” and “Fragile People”) while showcasing on stage the songs that brought fans into the fold. It was no surprise that the albums Long Distance (being their most successful due to its inclusion of the TV licensing hit “Edge Of The Ocean”) and Traces of You got a lot of representation on their setlist but performing only two songs from their Apartment Life album (arguably their second most successful album) strikes me as odd – especially given that the meticulously produced album had all the ingredients for mass appeal. The poptastic “Get Out Of The City” from this album is undoubtedly the most noteworthy omission from this concert’s setlist. It is baffling to me that this gem was not released as a single – but then again, I am quite convinced that Ivy’s best songs from an album were NOT necessarily the singles. Its getting sidelined even in a concert setting is undoubtedly disappointing. If I had any say, I would have also replaced “Disappointed” from the Long Distance album with the moody but hauntingly seductive “Hideaway” from the same album (i.e. Long Distance).

While both Dominique and Andy did offer some insight into the people responsible for their success, it would have been far better if they had delved into more factoids from their fascinating backstory laced with more than a hint of trials and tribulations. There should have also been at least a two-minute spotlight before the performances of songs such as “Mystery Girl” and “Fragile People” from the Traces of You album on the history of Bruce Driscoll’s involvement with the band given what a commanding presence he had on stage. We all know that art and context are inextricably linked and the latter for Ivy is a goldmine of serendipitous interactions and moments that fueled their ability to survive against all odds as a creative unit. I speak for at least some of the audience when I say that we would have loved to hear about it. Not very many bands have the unique story and career arc of Ivy.

Of course, none of the above criticisms takes away from the sheer brilliance of the performance. A bittersweet undercurrent permeates through every chapter of Ivy’s long history. Their music is absolutely for the masses (echoed by the host of the music podcast The Hustle) and yet, according to an interview for the Dig Me Out podcast, lead singer Dominique Durand explains that since their sound did not neatly fit into any of the various music “scenes” of the 90s, major labels did NOT know how to market them. They made pop albums that have stood the test of time and yet have not enjoyed the level of ubiquity in pop culture that they rightfully deserve. They did not sell millions of albums and yet had a thriving career by licensing their songs to television and film. They lost a third of their creative nucleus (i.e. Adam Schlesinger) to Covid19 complications, and yet against all odds, found a way to resurrect him as a key member of Ivy by ONLY building on demos (originating from between 1994 and 2012) that had “Adam’s DNA” and active contribution to create the album Traces Of You. They might have been able to create another Ivy album before Adam’s premature demise if it wasn’t for a long rift that had been created between him and Andy Chase that fortunately was healed before Adam passed away. In a nutshell, Ivy’s story is a series of sugary highs from the music they produced blended with so many “should have beens” and “could have beens”. That being said, resilience is a virtue and Ivy just might be one of the greatest musical manifestations of this. The evening at Sony Hall was a reminder of this undeniable truth. I know the band is sitting on enough demos for one final Ivy album. I wish them the absolute best as they work to bring their swan song to us in the foreseeable future. Last, but not least, I extend a heartfelt thank you to Dominique Durand, Andy Chase, the late Adam Schlesigner, and Bruce Driscoll (specifically for “Traces of you”) for their labor of love and selfless tenacity in creating the gift of their stellar back-catalog for us.

Here below is a video highlights reel of the fantastic evening!