Last night was one of my rare appearances in Brooklyn. I don’t usually venture down there, as I normally find everything that I need in Manhattan. Occasionally a good show suffices in Brooklyn, and I will decide to make the trek. The Morning Benders are one of my favorite young bands (like you needed me to spell out the obvious). I made the drive from Binghamton to come home this weekend just to make sure I caught this special show. The Benders were a last minute addition for the Surfer Blood headliner show that also included Beach Fossils , Turbo Fruits, and Grooms. I went with a few of my friends and had a great time overall. We had trouble finding the place at first because there is no big sign or anything leading one to believe that this run down white building is actually a music venue. The place was pretty old and a little grimy, but it was a decent place for a indie rock gig.
The hipsters were in full force and the PBR’s were being crushed at a pretty rapid rate. The Benders were first up and had some trouble getting started because of annoying feedback problems that the market hotel audio team couldn’t get straight for 15 minutes. Finally things got started and the band kicked into a short, but sweet set. They played a few cuts from Big Echo including the first free song that they gave away, Promises. They also played an excellent cover of a Neil Young song called “Bad Fog Of Loneliness” I posted the video at the end of this paragraph. It was wonderful to hear some of the fresh cuts of Big Echo live, but I was a little bummed that the venue gave the benders so little time. They were the best band there in my opinion, and got little time. I was disappointed like many fans that the band didn’t play “Excuses” but there was reason behind that.
I talked to Chris Chu, the guitarist and lead singer of the band for a bit and he was very approachable and genuine. He apologized for not playing “Excuses” and told me that they would have to play it for me another time, probably when they play Mercury Lounge. Unfortunately I had to tell him I’m still a baby at 19 years old, and can’t go to that show. (How strict are the Mercury Lunge with that rule? I also chatted with bassist Tim Or for a bit about seeing them open for the kooks in 2008, and how that seemed like so forever ago for them. They were both super cool guys, and it made my night just to get a chance to talk to them! Chris was baller enough to let me grab a photo with him, even after the first try was unsuccessful! Thanks again Chris!
I didn’t catch much of Grooms set because that was when I was conversing with the benders. They seemed alright from what I heard. Beach Fossils were a very fun band to watch live, putting tons of energy and delighting the crowd with delicious reverb heavy songs. The band hails from Brooklyn so all the locals were out showing Beach Fossils their support. I really enjoyed their set overall. Turbo Fruits were up next and they got the crowd pretty crazy with their heavy garage rock. They were stave diving, taking off their shirts, bringing crowd members on stage and playing a badass cover of CCR’s Bad Moon Rising. They impressed me a lot, and I had a good time jamming out with the former BYOP boys. The CCR cover is posted below:
Last but not least, Surfer Blood was out and the crowd went nuts. I really like Surfer Blood, and think that Astrocoast is a damn fine album. I wasn’t sure how well the song’s would translate live, so if I am being honest, I didn’t expect too much from Surfer Blood live. The band swept all of my doubts about their live abilities under the rug. They came out and had the crowd eating out of their hand. They were calm, collected, and having fun. Not too surprisingly songs like “Take It Easy”, “Floating Vibes”, and “Swim” got the biggest crowd reaction, and they sounded great. I knew that Surfer Blood were a pretty young group of guys, but they really looked young on stage. They played a great live set that made me an even bigger fan of the band. That is a job well done by any concert goer standards. Here is a video of Take It Easy that I recorded:
Oh, did I mention this show was only 10 bucks total? After the show I found $10 on the subway floor, so I walked away with free music, a photo with Chris Chu, and a good time with my friends. I had a very good night. Now for the getting back home part, that is another story for another day.
Gonna do a separate post with photos soon!
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