No Age at The Market Hotel
No Age
No Age ♥'s Bklyn, and the feeling is mutual. It was demonstrably clear at The Market Hotel on Monday night, as they rollicked through favorite material and held up their reputation as a fantastic live act. The duo seem to fit something much larger and abstract into the rubric of punk music, and their dissonance and feedback suited the venue and rowdy fans well. Exuberant people crowd surfed, moshed (haven’t used that term in a while!) and even snatched the band’s beers off the stage - ultimately ending their night quite sweaty and satisfied.
The opening bands included Soft Circle and Titus Andronicus, who contrasted each other a great deal. Soft Circle’s Hisham Bharooch (ex- Black Dice) is a one man psych/math rock/multi-instrumentist band. Utilizing looped beats, guttural vocals, and maniacal percussion skills, it's safe to say that he left the audience thoroughly impressed.
A bit less brilliant were Titus Andronicus, whose desultory appeal and constant crowd interaction (“Let’s have fun! We’re having fun! It’s a good time to be alive! Rock 'n' roll!”) didn’t have the proper effect on the crowd – and there was plenty of heckling to go around as a result. The group schizophrenically oscillated from influence to influence, with each song sounding fundamentally different from the next. One minute they recalled an indie garage outfit, then the band would alternate to a classic punk feel, and yet the next moment the group would churn out a penchant for roots rock 'n' roll. Not the most intuitive or captivating performance of the night, especially when they closed with a maladroit cover of "Where Eagles Dare."
Soft Circle
Titus Andronicus
Photos c/o Mark Iantosca
