FYF Fest

They made me think about the band Devotchka, and I am probably not the first one doing the comparison, minus the operatic level of the singer, and filled with more horns

The band, which reunited recently, seemed to be the not-to-be-missed-hardcore-thing, and they sure delivered with a powerful rage, rising hell in a few seconds in front of a giant American flag as the stage background.

The colorful duo from Providence was playing on Sunday afternoon at the FYF fest, and their experimental high-energy aggressive number took many people by surprise, me included. How did they maintain such an experimental crushing-skull-fucking-brain style for such long numbers

Their songs were alternating between almost naked aching vocal harmonies with spiraling guitars and dance numbers, one of the songs had its Radioheadish moments, and these dreamy-melancholic vocals had something to do with Cat Power’s own delivery, however not her smoky vocal presence

There were long installments of synth and electronic beats shimmering and searching for the right groove, like crazy fireflies slowly lightening up, just before the warmth of the vocal harmonies would kick up. There were tribal exotic drums mixed with lots of windy synth

A bandana around his knee, his long hair covering his face all the time, Conor and his bandmates gave a set charged with a wild energy and many political bites. Desaparecidos could be like Bright Eyes on steroids, after all the voice is the same

Their set was a violent chaotic thing, with thunderous guitars building a heavy and aggressive sound. Baldi’s delivery was sometimes raucous, other times tired and detached, often aggressive and screamed with despair and horror, a

They knew how to keep the audience on constant alert with their muscular and destructive songs, outbursts of bipolar rage, and I thought they wouldn’t able to match the energy on the next one but they were proving me wrong each time.

I gave up half way through their set, letting the four voluminous girls who were pushing me since the beginning, win my spot,… but it wasn’t an admittance I was way too old for concerts, just too old for fighting against imposing 20-year-old who take too much space.