Songhoy Blues played Union Pool's Summer Thunder w/ DFA's Misfits tribute band (pics)
Malian band Songhoy Blues were in NYC last week for two free shows, playing the River & Blues series on Thursday (7/5) at Battery Park City, and then on Saturday (7/7) they hit Union Pool for the Summer Thunder series. Giving the crowd an extended set for a Summer Thunder show, Songhoy Blues seemed like they would’ve played all night if they’d been allowed, and I think most of the crowd would’ve stayed right there with them. There is a genuine exuberance — you can just tell these four men really love playing for people — which is infectious.
Making the day all the more fun, if stylistically all-over-the-place, was Braineaters, the Misfits tribute band made up of musicians from the DFA expanded universe: Les Savy Fav’s Andrew Reuland on guitar, Sinkane’s Ahmed Gallab on drums, Andrew Raposo (Midnight Magic) and Nick Millhiser (Holy Ghost!) on bass, and Jayson Green (Violent Bullshit, Orchid, Cheeseburger) and Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem, Juan Maclean) on vocals. This was only their second-ever show — the first was a DFA Halloween party last year — and I’m not sure if they’d practiced much or at all since then, but this was definitely just for fun. In addition to Misfits classics, Nancy also took lead on Danzig solo hit “Mother.”
Pictures from the whole day are in the gallery above. Union Pool’s Summer Thunder series continues this Saturday (7/14) with UK band Girl Ray.
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photos by Amanda Hatfield
