Ida Maria @ Union Hall, Brooklyn, NYC

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photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Ida Maria @ Union Hall

It is ungenerous, maybe, to call Ida Maria the thinking person's Katy Perry. But just as Ms. Perry's generally execrable "I Kissed a Girl," a No. 1 pop hit last year, mixed equal parts titillation and coyness, so too does Ida Maria's song "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked," itself something of a flirty stunt.

Last year that song became a hit in Britain, a blog favorite and a misleading advertisement for this talented Norwegian singer: unlike Ms. Perry, Ida Maria, who performs under her first two names, has a story behind her wink.

And at the Mercury Lounge on Thursday night, when she and the crowd shouted the chorus together -- "I like you so much better when you're naked/I like me so much better when you're naked" -- it was a reminder that the song isn't so much a tease as a cry for help. [NY Times]

On Friday (1/16), Ida Maria played her 2nd NYC show in a row, that time in the basement of Union Hall in Park Slope (Brooklyn). Kyle said, "She initially skipped 'Stella', but to the cries for an encore she came out and played it. In its place on the setlist she performed 'We're All Going to Hell'. She broke two guitar strings on the night, but didn't really lose a beat. Her voice was wrecked, but she pulled it off." More pictures and the setlist from the Brooklyn show below...

Air Waves...

Air Waves

Ida Maria...

Ida Maria

Pictures from the Mercury Lounge show one night earlier, HERE.

Ida Maria - Union Hall Setlist:
Morning Light
Louie
Queen of the World
We're All Going to Hell
Keep Me Warm
I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
Oh My God

encore:
Stella

Tags: Air Waves, Ida Maria, Union Hall

posted at 10:38 PM on January 18, 2009 in music | pictures | Comments (11)

Comments (11)

Damn, that chick needs to calm down.

Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2009 12:37 AM

"Damn, that chick needs to calm down."

no, she definitely should never calm down.

Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2009 12:45 AM

come on, its you guys who got to calm down, 1 song shes ripping off Jeffrey Lewis, next song YYY's, then The White Stripes, etc. theres no art here, only cynical scandinavian hit machine which is behind her every move. I say move on...

Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2009 2:08 AM

The big question is:

How did you get Geddy Lee and the rest of Rush to back her up?

I mean, that's not a pretty penny.

Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2009 7:48 AM

Chick puts the ug in fug.

Posted by redpoint | January 19, 2009 9:19 AM

she and Jay Reatard would make a cute couple.

Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2009 9:41 AM

I thought the show at Union Hall was pretty rad and I didn't find much cynicism in her at performance at all.

Posted by Jeff | January 19, 2009 11:50 AM

i love her shirt. straight outta ohio