Until SXSW, my only experience seeing the Polyphonic Spree was that episode of Scrubs where they play “Light and Day” in the hospital with balloons bouncing and white robes flowing. While cute, it didn’t really prepare me for the current incarnation of their live show.

MP3: The Polyphonic Spree – Section 19 (When The Fool Becomes A King)

The first thing you will notice about the Polyphonic Spree is that their frontman Tim Delaughter is delightfully mad in that perfectly genius sort of way. One half conductor, the other half dictator of fun (the Hitler of happiness? the Mussolini of mirth?), Tim didn’t so much command your attention as earn it. His only instrument was the microphone, his only aid a wireframe box that used as a foot plant to help him crane out over the crowd. Even during the band’s long instrumental stretches, he kept busy conducting any one of the eighteen-plus Spree members with wide, sweeping gestures.

But the best thing about Tim Delaughter is that he’s quite clearly in love with what he does. He’s the Spree’s leader, sure, but it’s quite clear that he’s also their biggest fan. At times he would pause and look out at the crowd, grinning like a proud father. And it’s not without good reason; I can with no hesitation that the Polyphonic Spree put on one of the best live shows of any band still touring.

I feel that the only way I can come close to communicating the strength of their live show is by saying that the Spree are possibly only eclipsed by Sigur Ros in terms of emotional impact that a concert has had on me. Seeing their closing number, “When the Fool Becomes a King,” is quite possibly the greatest emotional high that you can get from a concert. I felt tingly when the six girl choir started belting out the “Hail to the sky” section, and the elation I got for the closing cries of “And it makes me smile!” will likely not be surpassed until the birth of my first child. It could not have been more perfect.

I’d like to think that the Spree felt the same way about the show that I did. It would certainly explain their enthusiasm. Tim lept into the crowd and sang not just to us, but from us as well. And all the while, their extra percussionist climbed on top of a speaker stack outside of the tent and banged away on his drum. He later climbed back to the stage and put his broken drum on his head and hit it with his hands.

More photos below. They do a better job of showing the fun, I think.