Damon & Naomi with Kurihara & Sharon Van Etten 92Y 1/30/10

Damon & Naomi were in NYC celebrating two new releases; one, a Factory 25 DVD release Damon & Naomi: 1001 Nights, a comprehensive video anthology of the duo and the other, a compilation CD of old songs put out by Subpop Records entitled The Sub Pop Years.

The Lovely Sharon Van Etten opened the show. She was extremely excited to open for the duo claiming she used to listen to them before her hand could even fit around the neck of a guitar or she could drink. She thanked the audience for being there to witness the show so she could be sure it wasn't a dream.

After she played her opening song "Give Out" she said "No Blood!" relieved that a big bucket full of blood didn't spill over her head like in Carrie. Then she started her next tune and any doubters in the crowd were won over with lovely choruses in "Consolation Prize." She next played her beautiful Blaze Foley cover of "Oooh Love." She rounded out her set with her newer songs "Call It A Joke," and the lovely "Heart in the Ground." She dedicated her closing song to Damon & Naomi and ended her short set. The crowd begged for an encore but Sharon simply and gracefully left the stage.

Damon & Naomi ex-Galaxy 500-er's were joined by guitarist Kurihara and opened there set with Jeff Buckley's "Song to the Siren." The cover was great but I still think Elizabeth Frazier's This Mortal Coil contribution will always hold the high water mark on that song. Damon broke his B-string during the second track but the band played on. He mentioned the song they were playing was related to a Japanese composer that used less chords. Damon finally changed his string and left Naomi to try some stage banter with the audience which was not her cup of tea. Some stand out tunes were "New York City" and "Turn of the Century." They dedicated a song to Sharon Van Etten, saying, "She's too young to have mastered the broken heart songs, but she has." They encored with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire."