Devendra Banhart and Hairy Fairy!

CMJ is in town this week so all the music venues are packed and many a band has come to play their tunes, sing their songs, and sell their wares door to door. It can be a tough call who to choose to enjoy and last night I forsook the Doves, catch them at a free acoustic set in the Apple Store in Soho today at 3pm, the Brazilian Girls, and many more for a night at the Bowery, starring Devendra Banhart and Hairy Fairy, Bean with Holy Fuck, and The Cribs. The Bowery Ballroom is always a great place to kick back with a drink and enjoy the sounds and as I walked up I was greeted by three young stewardess’ in vinyl blue outfits giving out flyers for another show in town, isn’t promotion dandy. I talked to them for a little and then headed to the inside to check out the music. The Cribs, hailing from Leeds, started off strong with their punkish pop song, “Hey Scenester,” and kept that frenetic energy going for the rest of the set. I didn’t know what to expect of Beans with Holy Fuck and was pleasantly surprised to a bumping hip-hop performance by Beans, a talented lyricist and vocalist. He flirted with the crowd the whole set, rapping about anything from politics to sex, not that I think those aren’t related as well. Holy Fuck, the band behind him, played an assortment of electronic devices along with a live drummer. After finishing his set, Beans announced to the ladies that he’d be hanging out at the corner of the stage. I came specifically to groove to the experience that is Hairy Fairy, Devendra Banhart’s new incarnation, playing songs of his new album ‘Cripple Crow.’ I instantly get transported back to different ages of music when I listen to Banhart, a human time machine incarnate. When the band rocked, “Long Haired Child,” a song of the rearing of his kid so that he won’t be freezing in the cold winter nights, I took a trip to the late 60’s and early 70’s, a favorite span of years for me. When he in his hushed acoustic voice played, “Put Me In Your Suitcase,” I found myself in an old folk tavern in the 19th century. Then this hippied out crew brought me back to the present day as they sung their anti-war ballad, “Heard Somebody Say,” which repeats the feeling, “Oh, It’s simple we don’t want to kill.” At one point of the show the band took a rest and Banhart invited any songwriter to borrow his guitar and come up on stage. These two college kids got up and one sung a song about how he was red headed idiot, not how I would put myself out there, but a dream come true for these kids. Delivering some of his old songs, now endeared classics by his fans, Devendra had the crowd more entranced than the piper, with “A Sight to Behold,” and “This Beard is for Siobhan,” which ends with the mantra, “well a real good time, a good time,” something Devendra Banhart and Hairy Fairy provide. As the show finished I noticed a girl with her old school tape recorder and I asked her, “What do I have to do get a copy of the show.” She replied, “Give me your address.” I told her to give me hers as well as I’d recorded a couple songs on video. As I took a closer look, she seemed familiar, and I told her I thought we had met. We thought and discussed for a moment and she said, “I think I’ve kissed you,” confirming my thoughts that a while ago on a Friday night in Dumbo, my friend Jimmy and I hung out with these three girls and I ended sharing an innocent kiss with the girl now standing before me. Random meetings are always interesting and I told her I looked forward to hearing the tape and us being friends. A little weary from the night I slowly started my journey home to get some sleep so I can continue the CMJ fun.

Tags:   beans with holy fuck, bowery ballroom, devendra banhart and hairy fairy, the cribs

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Posted on 9/15/2005 ( Permanent Link )
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