Rock shows not in clubs always seem to serve SFist especially well. Beirut is performing two nights at the Herbst Theater (tonight and Tuesday). Although they’re legendary for their live shows and the age of their leader (21), we like Beirut for other reasons. Reasons like the glockenspiels, ukuleles, and mandolins in their music. If you haven’t heard them before their first album, 'Gulag Orkestar', is a good place to start. We’ll echo the growing group of music critics who stress that their latest release is just as good and even, yes, more mature. The shows are sold out, so hit up craigslist if you haven’t gotten tix yet. You’ll finally earn that indie cred you’ve been after all these years.

Jason Poranski (he’s in the red t-shirt) plays guitar, ukulele, and mandolin in Beirut and was kind enough to answer some questions for us about the band and tour.

Why the name ‘Beirut’?
The name goes back further than the band’s live shows, further than 'Gulag Orkestar', to Zach’s earlier home projects. Somewhere when he was a lot younger, maybe fourteen or fifteen he came up with that name. It is in no way was supposed to be political. It probably just seemed like an exotic place that was a lot different than New Mexico.

Any hints of what people can expect at the SF show?
A mix. A lot of new songs, a lot of gulag songs, a lot of stuff off the new record. People who have been to our shows before should expect it to be more vibrant, there’s a lot of energy in music. They should expect to have fun.

What’s your favorite song to perform live?
A new song off 'The Flying Club Cup' called “In the Mausoleum” It has a lot different flavor from the others we perform. There’s a groove to it, its fun to play.

Favorite song off the new record?
It’s hard to say. I like Owen Palat’s [Final Fantasy/ Arcade Fire] song on the record. It’s a nice break on the record to hear a different voice. I like his arrangements.

Photo by Kari Sharff

Who would you compare your live shows to?
One thing I like about being in band, and the live show is that it has an energy and instrumentation and I’m part of something I haven’t heard before. It’s odd. I was talking about this.. asking about the reactions of different people in different places to our music. Like France versus New York. Across the board, our experience has been we’ve gotten a great response in the States, and all over, and there isn’t that much of a difference. Sure you can have shows where we are pretty mellow. Myself, as an audience member, I’m not always vocal, I don’t jump round. What I like about this band, is I’m not like that personally, but a lot of people do that. It’s great to have an audience get so involved. In Toronto, people actually crashed on stage and started dancing. You don’t see that w/ too many other bands. I like being a part of it, because I don’t see too many comparisons.

Ukuleles seem to be popping up lately in music, how did you come to it?
I didn’t play too much before ukulele before Beirut. My background is in finger picking guitar. If you can play a guitar you can play a ukulele. There’s different tunings, but it’s pretty much the same thing. What it does add is a really delicate feel. I play a nylon string guitar, I prefer that to steel string. I like the ukulele too, because it’s more delicate, with less strings. It’s not a kid’s instrument at all. It can be used that way. But lots of guitar players just learn and use 3 chords. A Ukulele will produce an equal sophistication when played well.

What’s surprising about being in this band?
It goes back to when getting live show off the band, those first shows in NY, with so many people showing up. That was the big surprise going back 2 years. The response from people has been amazing . When I first listened to Gulag and realized how young this person [Zach Condon]was, that was as surprise. He’s a really focused kid and makes great records.

What should we look for from you on the new album?
Look for the mandolin on “St. Apollonia”. That’s a mandolin part that me and the drummer worked on together. It adds a lot to the song.

Any songs you like in better in the lives show?
No. Each one has its own place. It’s interesting and different to figure out how to perform them live. It really is another project once the record is done to figure out how to keep the energy up for the live show. We had a good time doing it, and we’re ready to play the songs.