masquerading as a young person, i caught those darling local natives at webster hall on friday night--late, because of work, and later because of security at the hall, which is tighter than jfk's, which wasn't exactly comforting.
i was waaaay in the back for these.
what i heard of the band was amazing, i will look forward to seeing them next time they come 'round. hopefully it won't be at webster hall, because i'll
i have to apologize for some of the shaky, sweeping, bad-zooming here, but i was being vexed by the tall guy in the pork pie hat. (can we please be done with the pork pie/panama/straw hat already? it can be a natty look if you're a jazz musician. or a mambo king.)
again not a great video, but a bit better in parts. the white glare is a little less intense. i'm mostly happy that you get to see a bit of mattfrazier's drumming (he was tough to get still shots of too), a few key ryanhahn guitar moments, everyone's amazing percussive work...and taylor's groove (which is always, always on).
admission of guilt: i'm part of the off-key sing-along group here. it was just too damn fun.
i got really lucky last night--everything was going to plan. caught the ferry just after 8, arrived on the island after the first of two opening bands performed, shimmied my way past the drinking revelers (it was gonna be a dry night for me, at least until after the show) and up to the stage (it was maybe 10 deep where i stood)...and then i eased my way to some free space, off to the side but a bit closer to the stage, near what i assume was the vip/press section, on the river side of the beach.
i caught we barbarians' full set. i liked their energy.
the only fly in the ointment of my evening was a twenty-something, joefrancis-trainee who was sharing that area too. honestly, everything about this kid was foul--especially his ciggies, his beer spilling, his indecent sense of space, and his posse, which included a shrill drunk girl. he apparently lost a contact lens right before the main event. it seemed deserved. there were good souls who "lit" their iphones and got down on the sticky ground to help him find it. good for them.
anyway, you can hear everyone clapping, just aside the beat. thankfully drunk people only have the stamina for short bursts of bad singing and clapping. (i was actually sort of charmed by that part.) and by then i was just happy. the band is so, so good.
i wish the video quality was better, but hopefully you can appreciate their music, style and showmanship...
