No Age rocked The Music Hall of Williamsburg in every way possible last evening, The band sounded tight as hell and had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, including this roving reporter!
No Age’s opening acts of Small Black and Soft Circle were equally as impressive. Small Black won the crowd over with their brand of Depeche Mode like melodies. And in nearly 20 years of going to shows (my hippy mother took me as a child to concerts) I’ve never seen a crowd so receptive to an opening band as I have this evening to Soft Circle and rightfully so!
Soft Circle is one of the most technically astute bands, in the best way possible. Just soooo BRILLIANT! Every band on this bill this evening was major and impressive; one of the best shows I have ever attended!
Britt Lundborg reports: Last night, Northside Festival kids were packed shin to shin for Memory Tapes whose chillwave, glo-fi, [insert bloggy musical trend here] sound grows serious teeth when heard live. On record, Memory Tapes swirl an impressive electro froth with trancey synths and bottled electronic drums. Seeing them on stage, you expect at least half a dozen white apples glowing in the dark and a little head bobbing by the key knob-twiddler. But nope, there the two guys are behind ACTUAL instruments – lead singer and guitarist, Dayve Hawk, and his drummer. And they play the shit out them. All the pieces of Memory Tapes’ incredibly catchy tunes are there, just in a slightly augmented fashion. It’s as though Hawk has emerged from his bedroom recording studio, demanded a six-string and said, “We’re doin’ this big, we’re doin’ this real, nothing from concentrate when we’re on the road.” And it works. It works like a charm. On their LP, Seek Magic, the stand-out track ‘Bicycle’ plucks and plinks until a euphoria-inducing guitar riff sweeps in and the floor fall from your feet. Live, that Hawk extends that riff into an epic squall and the song lasts for a solid 15 minutes where you can’t remember where you are. Truly transportive. Watch ‘Bicycle’ here.
MP3: Tanlines – Real Life (Memory Tapes Mix)
Intensity. Audacity. Brilliance. Official TMS Rating: 10/10. Watch their censored clip for ‘USA Boys’ here. DISCO2 will see daylight very shortly.
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As per usual, Suckers performed an outrageously sublime set on Friday evening. This particular show served as an official celebration for the release of their brilliant debut album (Wild Smile). The cherry on the proverbial cake came in the form of an encore featuring: Yeasayer, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Class Actress, Cameron Hull & Sean Bones. TMS Rating: 10/10. Be certain to watch their video for ‘Black Sheep’ here. Follow Suckers on Twitter.
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Friendly Fires meets New Order meets Foals? Delphic’s sound is certainly not 100% original but their debut American gig totally blew me away. Highly impressive! TMS Rating: 9/10. Read my interview with Delphic here.
MP3: Delphic – Counterpoint (Tim Goldsworthy Mix)
Micah Weisberg attended last night’s gig and provides the following review. Aside from a minor “lump in his throat,” according to singer Barry Hyde, the Futureheads were in top form for their first ever Brooklyn show late Tuesday night. During a taut hour-long set, the band rifled through the hits as well as several choice cuts off their new album, The Chaos, released earlier that day. The crowd was quite receptive, bobbing along to newbies “Heartbeat Song” and the title track before the full-on celebration of “Meantime”, “Decent Days & Nights” and “Beginning Of The Twist.” During “Skip To The End”, Hyde encouraged everyone to do the “bouncy bounce” and thus had the room wrapped around his finger in time for the sublime chants of “Hounds Of Love.” Not bad for a band believed by many to have faded away after a poor-selling sophomore album. Judging by last night’s energetic crowd, the Futureheads are back where they want to be, kicking and clawing their way through a sweaty punk show like their lives depended on it. Until next time!
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Outrageously spectacular! Official TMS Rating: 10/10. Swim is out now. Be sure to watch ‘Odessa’ here. All photographs courtesy of Alexis Maindrault.
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Our brilliant guest blogger, Britt Lundborg, attended last night’s gig and offers a full report! Broken Bells have been widely touted in the press as the snazzy collaboration between Shins front man, James Mercer, and producer extraordinaire, Danger Mouse. Last night they played their first gig in New York at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg and, rather surprisingly, sold it out. Well, perhaps it isn’t surprising given the Shins’ rabid shoegaze fan base. I was a little amazed that Shins fans even knew where Williamsburg was. The image of Broken Bells we’ve been fed is of two guys (one a sad troubadour, the other a morose knob-twiddler), so imagine the shock when seven dudes stroll out on stage. I suppose you need an extra large crew for tunes as well-wrought and highly-orchestrated as Broken Bells’ are. Now, I would be lying if I said that Mercer and co. then proceeded to get freak-busy on the mic, but they did kick up some nicely-mannered dust. By nicely-mannered, I mean they played their entire album front to back and inserted tiny flourishes when it mattered. On ‘Ghost Inside’, a grinding bass line pulsed the floorboards and threw the song’s aching sexiness all the way to the back of the house. James Mercer’s voice sounded beautifully soulful, like a hopeful bird chirping down a dark mine. Danger Mouse tended to stay behind the drums, but showed off his musical dexterity strumming a guitar and playing the keyboard during their encore. For this, they played 2 covers: Neil Diamond’s ‘Don’t…’ and Tommy James & The Shondells’ ‘Crimson…’, which were both epically great. Perhaps playing songs written by others untethers them.
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Stunning yet again! TMS Rating: 10/10. Watch ‘The Sweetest Thing’ here.
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BRILLIANT! Again. Watch ‘Whole…’ here. Visit The Horrors on MySpace.
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