Crystal Stilts, Violens and Viva at 92YTribeca

Saturday night we went out to check out what 92YTribeca was all about. This free event was their soft launch of the new space and they had 3 local NYC/Brooklyn bands on the bill Crystal Stilts, Violens and Chairlift. We arrived and check out artworks by Matthew Thurber, Lauren Weinstein and Tom Hart and then went inside the music room to check out the Crystal Stilts. The standing drummer girl was a nice touch in contrast to the rest of the bands more laxidasical presence. But either the new venue hadn't dialed in the mixing or the bands vocalist wasn't able to project on top of their music.


After the first band we found were the real fun was in the theatre room were they were projecting Anna Biller's 2007 film Viva. Which was a beautifully done tribute to sexploitation films from the 1960s and 1970s. The film showed naked men and women entangled in orgies with comic one liners that had the whole audience up in laughter.



We returned to check out Violens set. The dimly lit stage didn't showcase the band to well as they bounced between rocking licks and dreamy and atmospheric jams. But once again either the new venue hadn't dialed in the mixing or the bands vocalist wasn't able to project on top of their music. I really love their recordings i've heard on the bands Myspace page but in this live setting a little of the dreamy ambience was lost. Both bands oddly had kind of a Smith's/Morrissey thread going on. We went back and checked out some more of the film Viva and took off into the night missing Chairlifts set.

The people running 92YTribeca were great. No meathead security guards. The bartenders were very nice and the drinks affordable. Overall the bands were fun to check out but the Viva film was the highlight of the evening. Be on the look out for more shows to come including the screening of Lou Reed's Berlin Live at St Ann's Warehouse and of course the opening night with John Vanderslice Live in Concert, with Michael Showalter on October 18th.