Wussy Get Screwed by NYC, Lit Lounge

I've been raving about Wussy's debut album, Funeral Dress [BUY], since it came out last November. So have the critics. So it came as a bit of a surprise when months went by and the band failed to mount a tour of any kind outside of their native Ohio. When the band finally announced a couple months ago that they would play a short fall tour that would bring them out to New York for two shows (a free show at Sound Fix and a gig at Lit Lounge), needless to say I was pretty excited.

Unfortunately, Wussy's trip to New York didn't go as planned. First, their Tuesday night show at Soundfix was cancelled at the last minute due to some sort of health code (?) violation by the store. (I wasn't there, I'm just repeating the band's understanding.)

Then, last night at Lit Lounge, they were kicked off the stage after playing for 30 minutes. You read that right.

Why? Lit Lounge fucked up, badly. Lit Lounge has a 12:30 curfew. While that's kinda dumb in NYC, it's workable as long as the venue makes sure that the bands are keeping to schedule. That didn't happen. Despite the fact that the opener was scheduled to go on at 9, they didn't even start setting up until 10, and then played until close to 11. The next band then played until about 11:45. So that left Wussy with 45 minutes to set up and play. When it was all said and done, they got to play from about midnight to 12:30 before the club pulled the plug.

There's no other word for this other than unacceptable. The band drove from Ohio to play this gig. Yet Lit Lounge - a venue I've never been to in 10 years in NYC and one I will never step foot in again - didn't have the decency to keep an eye on the schedule and make sure they had time to play a full set. Instead, we got to spend an hour watching the shitty opening band set up and play. (The middle band, The Kyle Sowashes, were pretty good, and played a short set.)

As for Wussy's set, it was excellent. They've really continued to gel as a live band since I caught them in Cincinnati in April, and they sounded great. In addition to a couple of my favorite songs off of Funeral Dress ("Soak It Up", "Yellow Cotton Dress"), they also played two or three new songs from their forthcoming followup album (which they start recording next week). The songs were just as good as, if not better than, the older stuff. I can't wait to hear the new album. And hopefully one day I'll see them play a full, uninterrupted set.