Birdmonster @ Mercury Lounge [9/7/06]

I've seen a lot of shows so far this year, and aside from the Frames, who are simply, in my opinion, the best live band around, my favorite shows have been by young bands. Right now it's a neck and neck race as to who's put on the better live show - The Whigs or Birdmonster.

Tonight I got a chance to see think a little deeper on this subject, as Birdmonster returned to town with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Catfish Haven. I missed SSLYBY, but managed to catch most of Catfish Haven's set. They were pretty interesting. Kinda an indie soul band. I spent much of the set having flashbacks to The Commitments (in a good way). Definitely worth catching if you get a chance.

Anyway, back to Birdmonster. Holy crap they rock. My favorite thing about them, aside from the rocking, is how obvious it is that they love what they're doing. The band jumps around from the start of the set to the end, leaning on each other, bumping into each other, smiling, laughing, etc. It's really a fantastic feeling to watch a band and feel like there's nowhere on earth the band (and the audience) would rather be. Not many bands give you that feeling. I just wish they had a little more material, because 45-50 minutes isn't enough.

I have tickets to Serena Maneesh and Asobi Seksu tomorrow, but I'm tempted to skip and see Birdmonster again at Union Hall in Brooklyn. Or there's also The 101 at Northsix. Decisions, decisions..

Birdmonster




Catfish Haven


More pics, as usual, at Flickr.