in the mouth of a desert...: September 2008

more pictures: http://flickr.com/photos/tags/lastfm%3Aevent%3D687654/interesting/

Florida was lucky enough to be graced by the presence of WHY? and Mount Eerie the other night. Both bands played to a small crowd at the White Room in Miami beginning with a short set by Phil Elverum , also known as Mount Eerie. Unfortunately, his quiet, guitar only music was slightly under appreciated as there was talking during his entire set. At one point someone shouted "will everyone please shut the fuck up?!" to which Phil responded "'well.... I mean, you can put it that way I guess." That seemed to quiet the crowd down a little as he continued to play his few songs, ending with a pleasant sing along.

Phil

WHY? then took the stage, opening their 14-song set with 'song of the sad assassin.' Most of their songs were from their most recent record, "Alopecia," which is a melancholy mix of hip hop and rock unconfined to one genre. They played favorites from their previous CD "Elephant Eyelash" as well, such as 'rubber traits' and 'yo yo bye bye.' However each of WHY?'s songs was infinitely better live than on their albums. Both of the Wolf brothers, Yoni and Josiah played drums, an aspect somewhat lost on CD. Also, The White Room is such a small venue that the intimate setting only enhanced Yoni's dark lyrics. That being said, most of the crowd sang along to one of their most popular songs 'these few presidents,' chanting the chorus of "even though I haven't seen you in years, yours is a funeral I'd fly to from anywhere."

Yoni

Josiah

While listening to WHY? on CD can be a bit depressing at times, their live show was full of such energy and exuberance that it was easy to forget most of their songs were about death and a bad break up. And although the song material is usually pretty rough (suicide, stalkers etc.) the band members were all polite and seemed appreciative of the fans. I spoke to them after the show and Yoni definitely did not seem as depressed as he does in his lyrics. Hilights included 'the vowels pt. 2' and their last song 'by torpedo or crohn's.' The band debated on whether or not to do an encore (the bassist semi-passed out on the stage and they couldn't play 'sanddollars' because he forgot how to play it) and finally decided on 'fatalist palmistry.' This tune got the rest of the remaining crowd dancing as it was probably the only upbeat song off of Alopecia.

ezra koenig

hanging with the harlem shakes

believe the hype... vampire weekend are just as adorable live as they are when spoken about from the mouths of teenage girls. ezra, chris, christopher, and rotsam stopped by miami on part of their summer tour to a packed venue, crammed with people all ages. they played almost every song from their exciting and highly highly hyped debut, mixed with two promising new songs. vampire weekend's enthusiasm was contagious, as every member of the audience was dancing and singing along with them. highlights included 'boston' and 'campus,' easily some of the most danceable songs ever. and of course the crowd went crazy as ezra strummed the opening notes of a-punk, sending a chorus of cheers from hoards of screaming girls, myself included. the short set was closed by of 'walcott,' not one of the best songs on the album, but an incredible performance live. the VW boys were all very modest and undeniably polite, thanking the audience but leaving without an encore. opening for this show was the harlem shakes, a four piece from new york with quirky pop songs. barefooted, spastic and odd, the harlem shakes played catchy tunes to a crowd who most likely did not know what they were hearing. however, 'carpetbaggers,' one of their best, was able to spawn some dancing from a group who was eagerly awaiting the headliner.