I was at this show as well. I was down on the floor area and had pretty good seats. I don't know a lot of their material (I accompanied a friend who is really into them) but I thought they played a great set. I was really impressed by how surprisingly tight they were live and the drummer was definitely a highlight of the show.

I'm surprised you got pics, the ushers were shining their lights at people to put camears away. At one point, this guy stood up to dance with his wife and the usher came over and yelled at him. His wife sat down but he kept dancing and turned around trying to get everyone else to dance. They kept sitting and defeated, he sat back down.

Anyone catch the name of the opening band? I couldn't understand a word the singer said and he looked like Conor Oberst with Bob Dylan's voice.

The opening band was The Child Ballads. The singer's name is Stewart Lupton who used to be in Jonathan Fire*Eater. You might have also noticed Judah Bauer (JSBX) playing with them.....I think they have an album coming out in January.

I agree that the show rocked. I love how they completely rework the songs live.

I agree on the drummer. He was really fun to watch.

The opening band was Child Ballads (the opened for Interpol last week too). I got to Town Hall late and only saw their last two songs. Bright Eyes was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw them on stage. Ends up, the guy is in his "dirty thirties" (older than Conor) and was the singer to the now legendary(?) Jonathan Fire*Eater (whose other members are in The Walkmen)

http://www.thefader.com/blog/articles/2005/08/01/return-of-the-fire-eating-balladeer

I saw them at the Black Cat in DC last night and I have to be a contrarian here and say that even though it was generally good, the show felt a bit disjointed. It was great to hear them do full songs again instead of their standard "stars on 45" type run-throughs and I enjoyed hearing the new stuff live, but on the 1st point, I don't like how they rearrange songs that I really like on their records like "Two Fat Feet", which was played way too fast and that ruined the hooks/catchiness of it. Also, for the new material, they should've had Grandma's vocals sampled and had a slide show or something on a projector. It just didn't translate all that well IMO. Also, the Black Cat is a cool club, but it has severe ventilation issues. I'm usually ok with smoky venues, but I could barely breathe in there and 2 of the people I was there with had to leave.

As for the opening, thanks for identifying them. I just wanted to take the guy and shake him because he had so little energy. I like the Walkmen, but now I know why I didn't like Jonathan Fire Eater. And I didn't think Bright Eyes, but rather The Stones' Exile on Main Street personally.

Isn't Alex Kapranos dating the chick from Fiery Furnaces? Is that her in the pics? If so, methinks Alex could do better. Still like the band; both, that is.

Blueberry boat was the most overrate piece of crap in the last few years. Let this band die already.

Is that Jason Loewenstein playing bass for Fiery Furnaces? And his drummer, too?

Ey, BV, thanks for the pics. I was hoping for some on here...

looks like a whole new band besides eleanor and matt. bummer, i liked those other guys

i miss the antics of the old drummer. is he out for good?

that drummer is bob, owner of north six. not that it really matters much...

yeah, that is indeed jason loewenstein and bob d'amico (mr. north six).

the last i heard, their old drummer, andy knowles, had become the tour drummer for franz ferdinand (who are coincidentally in NY at the moment - shame andy coudn't do double-duty!).
as for their other bass player, toshi, i thought i spotted him in the lobby of the town hall before the show so not really sure what's going on there. no clues on the official fiery furnaces site, either.
stranger still, assuming the following review (http://undertheradarmag.com/fieryfurnaceslive.html) is correct, andy and toshi played a fiery furnaces show in LA just two weeks earlier!

Bob is more the sound guy/ all around utility guy at Northsix than he is the owner, although he may own a small piece.

yeah that's bob, the booker from north six. nice dude.

bob's also in a band called "minaret" and tours with jason lowenstein.

www.myspace.com/minaret

am i the only one that thought town halls sound was fucking terrible? i could barely hear the guitar or keyboards most of the time and i was 8 rows back

I enjoyed the opening band Child Ballads. However, why did the lead singer act slow. Does he have a mental disability or was it just rock posturing. Acting like that makes me ashamed of my generation. Stand up straight and talk like a man, man!

hey everybody...this is bob, the guy who played drums w/ the FF's recently.
for the record, i DO NOT own any bit of the club Northsix. i book alot of the shows and bartend there but i am a mere employee of the place. the headline for that blog is really stupid and people should know the facts before they write stuff like that.