Review: Alec Ounsworth, Head Set, Harlem Shakes

Although last night’s show was sold out, Pianos sold $5 tickets for the early half of the night so that people could see the first three acts. Alec Ounsworth -who sounds a lot like the guy from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah opened up, and while he may be able to sell out larger venues with his band, solo there were 15 at the beginning of his set and about 40 by the end. He didn’t play anything familiar, which did not surprise me, and went through several folk songs that I liked a lot. He mentioned making an album – I assume it would be a solo/folk type project; sorry Pitchfork.

I think I like his music so much because he does have that folk background. While my friends were listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers in High School and College, I was listening to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. That’s why I had no friends. “C’mon guys let’s sing ‘Guantanamera!’”

I still get Seeger’s version of “Skip to My Lou” stuck in my head form time to time. Not cool.

After his set, I walked to the front where they had just put on the Clap Your Hands album. I went upstairs to see the last bit of Cross-Pollination which was a very entertaining interlude before the next act downstairs (it was like a mini-festival!). The drummer played a drum-set, but centered around a djembe, not a snare. Watching him pound on the cymbals with his bare hands was interesting. But two songs later, they were done.

Downstairs, this band called Head Set started. I’ve never heard them mentioned anywhere yet, and usually I’m last on the block to hear of someone. I’m not sure if it was because I was expecting a pretty crappy band, or they were in fact pretty awesome, but I was impressed. Very entertaining to watch, and very fun without knowing any of the music. I picked up their demo, but haven’t ripped it yet. If it’s worth sharing, I’ll post it. They have an album coming out eventually. They remind me of what I would think the Bravery would be if the Bravery didn’t suck.

The oddest thing about the show was the lack of indie-rock, hipsters, or other bloggers (I absolve myself of this scene because I dress like I just arrived from Michigan or something). The crowd was more diverse than I had seen in a while, and marked most notably by the number of girls, er… women… in the crowd. Guys, listen up. Remember Head Set, and get Set for some… eh, nevermind.

The Harlem Shakes were next. I’ve listened to them, and it was growing on me. Then , about two days ago, it got boring pretty fast, except for “A Night” which still rocks.

As live performers, they aren’t all that fantastic, with one notable exception: the Bass Player. That bass player somehow escaped from the Arcade Fire… or rather, maybe he rocked out too much for the AF and they had to drop him. Rarely have I seen a performer, especially on bass, rock so hard. Awesome awesome awesome. I almost have a man-crush on that kid. He rocked.

So, although I think the Harlem Shakes aren’t all that cracked up as I thought they’d be, no one told this fact to the crowd. What the FUCK was going on last night? The audience was insane! They were partly moshing, partly trying to launch themselves into outer space, and partly recreating the dream sequence from “Fiddler on the Roof”. I’m still a little stunned by it. Not that I mind them having a blast, but in comparison with other groups that may be better and the crowd stands comatose, I wondered why tonight and why them.

Why can’t those kids come to every show? They would definitely be on every guest-list if I was a promoter.

The band had a blast, the crowd had more of a blast, and I had a blast watching the whole thing.