Saturday, March 14, 2009

Show Recaps: Handsome Furs, Bishop Allen, Alyson Greenfield, Moving Mountains

Handsome Furs "Legal Tender"


Handsome Furs @ Mercury Lounge, NYC 3/6/09
Handsome Furs played a sold out show last Friday night at Mercury Lounge in New York City with this duo with an odd band name and Iran. The duo were in the vein of Handsome Furs, but the girl took the lead of vocals, rather than the guy. They made me dance and were pretty good, but their stage presence was far from special. After they played I noticed Dan and Alexi from Handsome Furs hanging out in the back, so I said hi and they were really nice. I mentioned how I saw them in Austin last year at SXSW. They signed stuff for me. Iran were next and played a very sweet rock set. They were great, but didn't fit the bill that well. The Canadian duo was up next, making their way on stage at around 11pm. They kicked it off with "Legal Tender" and played a bunch of songs off of Face Control, like "Evangeline," "Talking Hotel Arbat Blues," and "Passport Kontrol." Throughout the set, they gave away copies of their cds because their label wouldn't let them sell it out it before its official release date. Fans had to answer trivia questions to receive one, which was fun. I loved how Dan and Alexi moved while they were and how they'd turn to each other, they had a great connection and Alexi was smiling like crazy throughout the set. The encore was "I'm Confused" and I "Sing! Captain." It was a sweet show, that ran pretty late, but that's expected-I had a great time.

Bishop Allen @ Other Music, NYC 3/10/09
My friends from Florida were in town, so they wanted to check out a free show somewhere. Luckily Brooklyn's Bishop Allen would be performing a record release show. They performed songs off "Grrr..." They played a pretty good 30 minute of folk/rock. I had never heard of them before and was pleased. My friends seemed to enjoy them as well.

Alyson Greenfield @ The American Folk Art Museum, NYC 3/13/09
Alyson Greenfield played a free show, as part of the Free Music Fridays at the museum. She played with a mini casio keyboard, acoustic guitar, and xylophone (for one song). Greenfield delivered a nice set, filled with great stories. One was about being in school. Another was about trying to find a place to live in NYC after she quit her job working for Madonna, kinda sorta. This was the number where she played on the xylophone given to her by a friend. Two notable songs were, "Tuscaloosa," where the trees look like bones and "Understand the Sky." She closed with a song she wrote in middle school. Overall, great vibe.

Moving Mountains @ Retox, Brooklyn 3/13/09
Moving Mountains performed at a house space and sadly didn't move me as much as I would've liked. The singer, Greg, announced that the PA system was so soft, so the vocals weren't going to come in well. This was very disappointing because it's the vocals that help make their music so great. You could barely hear his voice, which bummed me out. Thankfully, they played "Cover the Roots Lower the Stems," which had a bunch of people rockin'. They're playing a show with An Horse & The Appleseed Cast in Connecticut next month, which should be pretty great.


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