A cross-section of 20- and 30-somethings, hipsters to sophisticated baby boomers, gathered at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium to see Dean & Britta provide the live soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Screen Tests.
When Dean Wareham first addressed the crowd, I was slightly thrown off by his accent, forgetting that even though he went to Harvard in the early 90s, he is originally from New Zealand. This evening he would toe the line between cool indie rocker and classic Bob Dylan. Dean, along with his wife Britta Phillips, narrated through the world of Andy Warhol, taking the time between screen tests to add insight, commenting on each "Superstar's" connection to Warhol and how they ultimately flourished (or met their demise).
The layered, dreamy music was the perfect complement for intricate emotions: sometimes vulnerable and awkward; other times cool, confident and inevitably eccentric. "I'm not a Young Man Anymore" was a full-on blues crawl, Velvet Underground-esque dirge scoring the Lou Reed screen test, where the über cool, sunglass-wearing Reed drinks a bottle of Coca-Cola. Undeniably cool, and unintentionally humorous: I could not help but think of Ben Stiller's "Blue Steel" pose in Zoolander.
During the Dennis Hopper screen test titled "Herringbone Tweed," I first reflected on the charisma that he had as a young man, and was saddened remembering Hopper's passing last year. I also realized how much Owen Wilson, with his brooding eyes that can tell the whole story, crooked nose and somber demeanor, clearly apes from Hopper. In more reverence to the deceased, Dean dedicated the Susan Bottomly-driven "International Velvet Theme" to National Velvet star Elizabeth Taylor.
One of the most stirring performances of the evening came during the screen test featuring Ann Buchanan, who holds the same blank stare for the duration of her piece. I first thought it was simply a loop; yet Ann ultimately sheds a few tears trying to remain stone faced and solemn, not blinking. This was accompanied by an instrumental piece, led by synth and drums that bored into my soul, almost uncomfortably, like a drill at the dentist.
"Knives From Bavaria" with Jane Holzer was the final screen test of the evening, featuring the beautiful young woman brushing her teeth in a very seductive yet calculated fashion. It was eerrily reminiscent of the kind of gaze that Nicole Kidman's character Suzanne Stone had while forecasting the weather in the Gus Van Sant classic, To Die For.
When the final test ended, I was left wanting more: it had all gone by so quickly. Fortunately, the crowd was able to urge Dean & Britta out for another song, to which Dean apologized beforehand saying, "I'm sorry we don't have any more films left." He also asked whether "it had started to snow yet?" before closing the evening with a classic Galaxie 500 track "Snow Storm," sans any of Warhol's black-and-white backdrops.
WATCH + LISTEN: Ann Buchanan Theme
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