© Vincent Cornelli, STREETLAYERS.COM
© Vincent Cornelli

Hot Chip played Highline Ballroom, MHOW & Jimmy Fallon - pics & video

photos by Vincent Cornelli

Hot Chip @ Highline Ballroom
Hot Chip
Hot Chip

Hot Chip could make things easy on itself. The band knows how to get a crowd of New York indie-rock fans, like the ones at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night, dancing and waving their arms. It simply deploys a four-on-the-floor dance-club thump under bouncing, pinging synthesizer parts and pop choruses.

…Dance music depends on the joy of repetition, and Hot Chip clings to that. Every so often it would start a song with a hand-played introduction on guitar or piano, only to draw cheers from the audience when the drum machine kicked in soon afterward. “Happiness is what we all want,” Mr. Taylor sang in the band’s opening song (“Thieves in the Night,” which also starts the new album), and for Hot Chip and many of its fans, the most direct route to happiness is via the visceral pleasure of beat and hook. When the band turned to a ballad among its encores — the knowingly titled “Slush” — quite a few people headed for the exit. [NY Times]

Hot Chip played two shows last weekend (and one post-gig DJ set). The first show was a free MySpace Secret Show at Highline Ballroom on Friday, February 5th. The second was a Saturday night show (2/6) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Free Energy (who will be touring with Foreign Born soon) opened the first, while French Horn Rebellion (who DJ at Glasslands on V-Day) opened the second. Following the Saturday show, Hot Chip DJed its afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl.

The band also played on the Jimmy Fallon show while they were here. Joined by the Roots, “One Life Stand” is what they played on TV. “Take It In” was taped just for the website. You can watch video of the latter below (the video of what actually appeared on TV has been removed from YouTube and doesn’t seem to be on NBC’s site).

After a European tour, Hot Chip will be back in April to play shows that include Coachella and two nights at Terminal 5 (one supported by the xx and the other by Gang Gang Dance). Their new record, “One Life Stand,” is out Tuesday (2/9) on Astralwerks.

More pictures from Highline and all upcoming tour dates are below…

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Free Energy

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip

Hot Chip “Take It In” – Fallon web exclusive

Hot Chip – 2010 Tour Dates
Feb 12 Academy Glasgow, Scotland
Feb 13 Picture House Edinburgh, Scotland
Feb 15 Rock City Nottingham
Feb 16 Academy Leeds
Feb 18 o2 Academy Newcastle
Feb 19 o2 Academy Manchester
Feb 22 o2 Academy Bournemouth
Feb 23 o2 Academy Bristol
Feb 24 UEA Norwich
Feb 26 o2 Academy London
Feb 27 o2 Academy London
Mar 6 Off Festival Holland, Zuid-Holland
Mar 7 AB Club Brussels, Brussels-capital
Mar 8 Bataclan Paris
Mar 10 Live Music Hall Cologne
Mar 11 Uebel + Gefaehrlich Hamburg
Mar 12 Astra Berlin
Mar 14 Mousontrum Frankfurt
Mar 15 Cooperative de Mai Clermont Ferrand
Mar 16 Bikini Tolouse
Mar 18 Magazzini Generali Milan
Apr 16 Fox Theatre Oakland
Apr 17 Coachella Indio
Apr 19 Riviera Chicago
Apr 22 Terminal 5 New York, New York
Apr 23 Terminal 5 NY, New York
Apr 24 9.30 Club Washington, Washington
Apr 25 Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia