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The Amsterdam Bar & Hall was treated to a night of post punk music and a whole lot of fun with bands from both sides of the pond.
Up first was Courting from Liverpool, England, consisting of Sean Murphy-O’Neill on lead vocals, Sean Thomas on drums, Joshua Cope on guitar and Connor McCann on bass.
Courting didn’t waste any time and jumped right to it with songs like “Tennis”, a biting song about the upper two percent with great lyrics like: “And the grass is always greener in the country house.”
Courting might have carried a message of class inequality, but this group had moments of frivolity by inviting special guests on stage, which involved tech hands and members of the next act playing cowbells and other percussion instruments.
Then Murphy-O’Neill asked if there were any Emily’s in the crowd. There weren’t. So he asked for a volunteer “Emily” to sing to for the song “Emily”.
Then, out of the blue, Murphy-O’Neill asked the crowd to break into pairs for an impromptu waltz, which the audience did, which isn’t something you normally see at a punk show. Normally, it’s more moshing, which finally happened after Murphy-O’Neill got on his knees and begged the crowd to: “Open the pit!”
Vundabar next took the stage, and after the first song someone shouted, “One more song!”
The premature request caught lead singer, Brandon Hagen, off guard and with a wry smirk, he joined in on the banter by telling the crowd that, yes, they normally do a one song set, and they will follow it with a ten-song encore.
Hagen was joined on stage by Drew McDonald on drums and Zack Abramo on bass. They are from Boston, MA and like Courting, they are infused with a punk tradition, but with a more jangly, pop sound. Pitchfork has described them as a “... ceaselessly jovial band” even if their subject matter can be sober, like with “I Got Cracked” which explores McDonald’s state of mind after a breakup, the passing of his father and breaking his arm on tour, all in the span of six weeks.
A fan favorite was “Alien Blues” with a lot of Na Na Na’s and personal favorite “Ash in the Sun” which expertly blended a couple of extended surf rock solos with a punk vibe.
Also, a special shout out to McDonald whose glasses flew off while hammering away on the drums.
And as Vundabar closed out the evening, the crowd kept shouting for one more, which Hagen kept riffing on, breaking the final song into halves and then for some reason he got the crowd to start counting, not a countdown, but the reverse. And as they continued into the teens, I wondered how far they would go, and if this was an established bit or something spontaneous. All I knew, everyone was having fun.
Vundabar at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall (08 Nov 2024)
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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