Don Giovanni Records Showcase at The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 2/6/15 (PHOTO LINKS)

Black Wine as Devo

Night 1

What a weekend. I'm still recovering. Swim meets. Father / daughter dances. Birthdays. Lots and lots of driving (including a traffic ticket -- the first since my late teens -- in the wilds of Brooklyn). Here's some stuff that happened Friday.

Allyson Dwyer and I set off in the sub-freezing temperatures for Night 1 of the annual Don Giovanni Records label showcase and arrived in Brooklyn a little after 7pm. We parked the family truckster atop a glacier about a block away from The Knitting Factory. We got inside and settled in for a drink before the show.

The great thing about this showcase -- and the label, in general -- is the communal feel. I said hi to Shellshag and Black Wine before the show, and I saw several people with whom I've become friends as a result of attending last year's shows.

We made our way into the performance space, and I parked myself right up against the stage. Host and Don Giovanni artist Chris Gethard started things off talking about how weird and awkward it always is for a comedian to host a concert. I think his worries were unfounded. At least with this crowd. Gethard gave away some free stuff -- really undesirable free stuff that people jumped on because it was free -- like a broken USB wall charger. Allyson got the package of wet naps. He brought Don Giovanni "label honcho" Joe Steinhardt up on stage to preview one of the jokes that Steinhardt has available for sale. I won't print it here, since I didn't buy it.

Gethard then laid down a challenge for each of the bands to include a joke in their set. Each band would ultimately comply with varying degrees of success. As a show of solidarity, Gethard started off the evening with a song. He brought out John Driver of Shellshag to accompany him on his (and my) favorite song of all time, Billy Bragg's "A New England."

John Driver, Chris Gethard

The music from the bands started. It would end up being a night of surprises -- some for me,
some for everyone. My first surprise of the night was Crow Bait. I hadn't heard them before and loved their set. A great discovery.

Once the stage was set for Black Wine, Gethard came out saying that he'd been asked to stall for some time. After a few minutes, the band came out wearing yellow jumpsuits and launched into a full Devo cover set. The whole set. All Devo. Halfway through, the band stripped down to the all black t-shirt / shorts combo. The audience went kind of bananas. Joe Steinhardt later told me that it was a total surprise to everyone. So much fun.

Mal Blum, whom I'd first seen at the Boyd Park show back in September, did another fun set including stuff from her upcoming Marissa Paternoster-produced record. Blum and the rest of her band have really relatable personalities onstage. Her sets are full of humor and warmth. When she and bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides stopped to give "a shoutout to CoolDad," I was floored. It kind of explained the surprising moment (one of the best moments to have ever happened since I started this thing, by the way) earlier in the evening when Chris Gethard said, "Is CoolDad here? There are rumors flying around backstage that CoolDad may be here tonight." I passed Blum and her band some stickers when they were done.

The Hamiltons

The Hamiltons, Canadian arch-rivals of The Ergs!, did an intense set of Ramones-inspired punk only after making sure that their nemeses weren't in the house. They rattled songs off one after another in a non-stop barrage. After their set, Gethard noted his surprise -- shared by me -- that several members of the audience knew every Hamiltons' lyric.

Shellshag were next and, as usual, turned the place into a crazy dancing love fest. The duo kind of epitomize the feel of the whole showcase weekend with their positivity. I don't know what more there is to say about their set other than everyone had their arms over their heads as they sang along.

Chuck Betz of Nude Beach

We were already almost an hour into the next morning by the time Nude Beach came out for the final set of the night. I loved their record from last year and had been looking forward to their set all evening. It looked like they'd grown the live band by a few members since I'd seen them in September, and the new set up did a great job of reproducing the sounds on 77. Guitarist Chuck Betz even broke out the double-necked guitar for a few songs.

Allyson and I headed out into the freezing temperatures for the long drive home. I had a swim meet to get to in the morning. I knew I'd be exhausted, but we'd be back for part 2.



I went a little crazy with pics both nights. Here's night 1.

Chris Gethard, Joe Steinhardt, John Driver
Crow Bait
Black Wine
Mal Blum
The Hamiltons
Shellshag
Nude Beach