Last time I saw Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers she killed it at Brooklyn Bowl in early January 2011. Since then the band have toured the US twice. Once with Acid Mothers Temple and currently closing out another US tour with fellow east coaster's Man Man. Shilpa and her band of Happy Hooker's have given a new meaning of the word tight. The band were amazing. The songs were still energetic but even more incredibly tight. Each member of the band felt so comfortable with the songs they have each added little nuances. At the end of their set Man Man's brass section joined Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hooker for a bone crushing version of "Liquidation Sale." The band left the stage and Shilpa played a new tune called "Pipe Dreams, Ponzi Schemes" (See video clip on bottom of this post) by herself with her harmonium the lyrics went "Well I got my free will and nobody's gonna be my man/so thank God if all I take is your money." The band returned and played an new song called "The Burning Bride" which was a real treat. She thanked her friend Ratso for naming the song. They ended their set with a punk rock cover of Red Kross's "Neurotica!"I had never seen Man Man before. I've seen Man Man's front man Honus Honus perform with Mister Heavenly with Islands' Nick Thorburn, Modest Mouse's Joe Plummer, and actor Michael Cera. As I I noticed a large majority of the fans were dressed in warpaint and yielding kazoo's, I knew I was in for a treat. Man Man's stage set up looked like the film set of Steven Spielberg's E.T., with bikes, television sets, child sized drums kits set behind a glowing star back ground. The bands music was so complex with sudden changes and very diverse sounds at times it sounded like Sonic The Hedgehog, The Smurfs, Pirates of The Caribbean, Tom Waits, Gogol Bordello and even the soul group The Dap-Kings! I have a lot of mental processing to do and tons of catching up on hearing Man Man's new album Life Fantastic, as well as their past LPs.
Both bands put on amazing high energy sets.
Photos & Review by Kevin Serra
My Favorite NYC bassist Nick Hundley of Shilpa Ray!
3 comments:
I saw both bands perform the night before at MHoW, and their sets were amazing. So glad to finally get "Life Fantastic' on vinyl!
Hey Kev,
If you could check out
this band and let me know what you think that'd be great.
Their single can be heard
here
http://squatpollution.blogspot.com/
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