For the closing night of Noise Pop 2009, Les Savy Fav, The Mae Shi and The Drums played a mayhem-riddled show at Mezzanine.

First of all, if you were in town, you know it was raining (and has been raining and there's no end in sight. Hopefully, of all the impending doom, at least we might not have a drought.) I was in no big rush to leave my cozy apartment, but I'd seen Les Savy Fav before with The Faint and remember them as a whole load of crazy fun, so I rallied.

I missed The Drums because of my dallying. But I'd like to share these two photos I took when I saw them play a few months ago, out in front of Luggage Store Gallery. I only wish I had video because... really... wow.


Ezeetiger + John Dwyer (Coachwhips) = The Drums

The Mae Shi are five young, loud and silly boys from L.A. When I arrived at Mezzanine, they'd already begun their set, but I got a good 20 minutes of their attempt to sonically blow the hair off my head.

Between bands, the crowd was kept in the mood by indie rock standards such as Fugazi's "Waiting Room" and Jawbreaker's "Save Your Generation." It was most adorable when the crowd spontaneously began singing along with Neutral Milk Hotel, "Two-headed boy // All floating in glass // The sun it has passed // Now it's blacker than black // I can hear as you tap on your jar..."


The swooning turned to an unchecked frenzy as Les Savy Fav frontman Tim Harrington made his dramatic debut onstage. Harrington came out in what he described as an outfit akin to an "unused tampon." However, as he started each new song, another layer of clothing was discarded and tossed off. It was almost as if he was playing a game of musical strip poker with himself.

I talked a staff member into letting me squat down and perch on the top of the stairs to help me in my struggle to get blurry, "artistic" photos (and obviously, I succeeded.) While I was fiddling with my camera settings, I was suddenly bathed in light and looked out into the crowd to see that all eyes were in my direction... Harrington was off the stage and raging up the stairs towards me!


He wandered madman-style into the back of the mezzanine and grabbed two ottomans in preparation for his surely well-planned slide down the stairs. He nearly kicked me in the head.






He thought better of the ottomans-as-knee-skis idea, and opted for the more conventional awkward-slide-down-the-railing. It was all good.


"This is a safe place. We all have beautiful bodies!" --Tim Harrington, Les Savy Fav

"The Best Part of the Show"