Dominick Mastrangelo

Mountain Man & the Middle East @ Mercury Lounge - pics, videos & setlist

May 24, 2010

Dominick Mastrangelo

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Middle East

The exhaustive stateside touring schedule for The Middle East landed in New York this week. Their two opening sets for Mumford and Sons (MHOW & Webster Hall) were followed by a BrooklynVegan-presented, sold-out headlining spot at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday. Much praise been written (here and elsewhere) about the collective from Townsville, Australia since their first shows back in March (including the BV showcase the first night of SXSW) and all of it has been fully deserved.

Mountain Man

Opening were the the female trio, Mountain Man (Molly, Amelia and Alex) who were making their first NYC appearance since announcing that they signed to both Bella Union and Partisan Records. Their sparse, rustic songs, most sung acapella (the final three songs without any microphones) were enchanting and brought to mind other folksy singers like Caitlin Cary or Sera Cahoone with the heart-breaking lilt of Sharon Van Etten. The crowd, which included Amelia’s dad (his first time seeing her sing she said) was both silent and attentive. The dad theme continued as they closed their set with “Dad Song” followed by “Holy Father”. Their entire setlist (and video of “Dad Song”) is below.

Catch Mountain Man next time they’re in town. More pictures, some videos, and both setlists below…