Bless your heart, Tim Harrington. Is there anything you won't do to make me smile? I was feeling down last night, wanting nothing more than to crawl under my bed and hide there forever, but your jolly gyrations were enough to bring me back from the precipice. Which is good, as there's not really enough space for a person under my futon.
Because Les Savy Fav are awesome, they had a comedian open for them instead of a band I don't care about. Hannibal Buress got the hip kids chuckling with absurdist riffs on handlebar mustaches, amputees, racism, religion and (as he mocked a student newspaper for un-ironically stating), "even food." I won't spoil any of his jokes because I want everyone to look him up on YouTube right this instant. I'm cranky and I hate comedians, so my lolz were not without significance.
Harrington came out with his hair and beard spray-painted white, wearing some sort of coolie hat, pretending to be on the phone in a life or death, 24-esque scenario. He kept this theme up for most of the show, switching between costumes and characters. He also engaged in the usual Harrington burlesque, jiggling his belly, coquettishly revealing a thigh, straddling the bar and running around in the audience. In addition to this showmanship, the thing that makes this band great to watch is they mix it up at least a little whenever they play live. Tim belted out "Patty Lee" like a standard (it kind of is) and never seems to deliver a lyric the same way twice. Some noisy interludes did much to build a fun sense of drama, challenging even the most stubborn arm-crosser to stay still. By the encore, one guy was sufficiently excited to jump up onstage and engage in a sensual booty-dance with Harrington, at which point my frown was officially upended.
I should also note this was the first show at the new Knitting Factory (in what used to be the Luna Lounge), and while the bar was admittedly set pretty low, the space is a vast improvement over what it once was, throwing off little of the chilly vibe that Luna did. A club this large and spiffy is necessarily going to seem out of place in Williamsburg (at least for the time being), but a front bar that opens onto the street, good sound, and solid bookings will take it pretty far. And of course, as was proven again last night, a band like Les Savy Fav can turn any space into a dirty Brooklyn party.
Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipickmynose/
haiduk
