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Operators made their NYC debut at BrooklynVegan Northside showcase w/ Little Big League and Motion Studies (pics)

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Pink Baby

Operators / Little Big League / Motion Studies @ Baby’s All Right 6/13/2013
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The music portion of the 2014 Northside Festival kicked into high gear on Friday (6/13), as did Mother Nature, dumping buckets of rain on us, and postponing The War on Drugs big outdoor show. In the dry (but still moist) confines of Baby’s All Right, BrooklynVegan had our official showcase and we were lucky enough to have the NYC debut of Dan Boeckener’s new band Operators, plus Philadelphia’s Little Big League and Brooklyn band Motion Studios. Pictures from the show are in this post.

The evening started with Motion Studies, which on record is mostly Tyler McCauley (who plays in a few other bands too) but live was a seven-piece outfit. (It did not include, however, Nick Sylvester who runs GODMODE records and plays on some Motion Studies tracks.) There’s shades of danceable mid-’00s DFA but also harder rock and softer rock (they shouted out Michael McDonald before one song). Whatever sound they’re doing, they definitely give it their all.

Little Big League were up next. They were having some technical problems that led to lengthy pauses between songs, but they rocked hard when they were on. When singer Michelle Zauner (aka Japanese Breakfast) wails, both on guitar and voice, this band is really a live force. They have a new split 7″ with Ovlov and just released a song from that today. Stream it (via Wondering Sound) below.

Operators were the main event. “This is our fourth or fifth show ever. For us to be able to play it in New York is kind of incredible,” Dan Boeckner told the crowd at Baby’s All Right. That might be true of most new bands, but maybe not one fronted by the guy from Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, and Divine Fits. Still, Boeckner seemed genuinely stoked to be playing this show, beaming and sweaty. Fans of his other projects would have no trouble realizing Operators — featuring Divine Fits drummer Sam Brown (also of New Bomb Turks) and Devojka — was a Boeckner band, not straying too far from the dancerock he made with Handsome Furs or Divine Fits. And that husky voice is instantly recognizable as well. Even though Operators have only released one song to the public so far, the packed-in crowd was definitely into it, dancing, cheering, and left wanting more.

Speaking of more, lots more pics from the whole show are below…

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