When mighty creative forces unite, everyone wins...especially when it's in the name of an excellent night of music. Which, coincidently, is exactly what
Rachael Ray,
Watch Entertainment, and
The Orchard delivered when they united
Harlem Shakes,
Sean Bones, and
The Cringe on
Pianos' tiny stage this past Wednesday.
The triumvirate of hosts were also kind enough to invite Baeble to the show as well, graciously allowing us to brave shockingly tight quarters, full concert production team in tow.
For their part, NYC's Harlem Shakes brought their delightfully clumsy brand of exuberant pop, as advertised. Playing cuts from their rather excellent debut
Technicolor Health, Shakes' singer
Lexy Benaim steered the band's boppy bits of pop with a well-mannered, nonchalant kind of hand on the wheel. Dude's obviously been stealing lackadaisical queues from Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and Ra Ra Riot's Wesley Miles. Come to think of it, so too have the rest of these charmers.
Former Sam Champion sideman
Sean Sullivan - aka Sean Bones - kicked the evening off in grace and style, dispensing his icky sticky, white boy reggae via Pianos' speakers for all to enjoy. We're proselytizing this here artist will be in high demand once he releases his debut
Rings, not to mention when the weather really starts to sizzle a few months down the road.
Sandwiched in the middle of the two bands, The Cringe proved they're not ones to find satisfaction in skewing the work of those artists that inspired them. Lead by
John Cusimano, and featuring SNL house man
Shawn Pelton on drums, The Cringe churned out the kind of straight laced rock and roll that really tore the cover off the ball. Though it saddens me to say we'll never be able to clear those covers of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" and Pearl Jam's "Don't Go On Me", The Cringe did don their idols proudly on their sleeves. Kudos indeed...
Be sure to keep your eyes peeled on the site in the weeks to come as we proudly bring you performances from all three bands. -
David Pitz
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Harlem Shakes on Myspace
Sean Bones on Myspace
The Cringe on Myspace
