Yeasayer Gig

I saw Yeasayer play yesterday at Tunnel in Milan. Now, some people who actually live in this city don't know this venue and so chances are if you are not part of the 1.4 million Milanese population you've never heard of it. But let me tell you its a bloody good venue for seeing live music, and I feel very lucky knowing that if I had been in my hometown of Sydney I would have been squashed in somewhere with three of four times the capacity. Intimate, well layed out, friendly promoters etc etc.

"I'm gonna lick it up, I'm gonna spit it out...I'm going down, down, down, doooown."

Anyway, the music. Firstly, the support MUST be mentioned. Hush Hush is his name and fucking weird as rap/songs is his game. Think Abraham Lincoln singing about: getting his period, wet panties, making pretty babies and wanting to "69". This is all backed by tinny 1980s cassette quality backing tapes and accompanied by totally killer dance moves. I couldn't shake the feeling that this guy was Berlin's answer to Spod.

Hush Hush-Yin-Yang (mp3)

"Stick up for yourself son, never mind what anyone else done!"

Now for the main dish. Yeasayer looks like a very different band then the one who toured their first album All Hour Symbols: the bassist cut his hair (thank god!), they have a new drummer and have recruited one of the suavest looking dudes around to work their laptop. This guy was obviously a necessary addition with the more dancey electronic vibe of their second album Odd Blood. Going into the gig I wondered whether this new stuff and the more African-Indian organic sounding tunes off the first album would work together in a live setting, or would it feel like two totally different/opposing sounds. However, the band managed to seamlessly mesh their stuff together: from the hyperactive Rome (which was clearly the Italian crowds fav) and motivational Ambling Alp to the golden classics of Sunrise and 2080. The variety in pace allowed the crowd to both do some dancing and stand watching in awe this mega talented group of boys. The flawless falsettos from Ira Wolf Tuton and Anad Wilder outshone the lead vocals of Chris Keating every time. What fun!

Yeasayer-Ambling Alp (REMOVED)