Although humanity may never develop a way to time travel, there is still hope for those who missed out on the 60’s hair swoops, bell bottoms and groovy tunes. A California-based indie pop band, Rooney set aside the 21st century and drowned Webster Hall under a wave of hallucinogenic and poppy pulsations of the west coast.
Friday’s show opened with performances by a piano-rock group, Crash Kings and an indie-pop band from Michigan, Tally Hall. Both bands have been a part of Rooney’s Wild One tour, although their sets didn’t not live up to the tour’s adventurous name . Crash Kings brought in a mediocre bluesy rock sound that most viewers can catch a glimpse of during an MTV special. Following them, Tally Hall floated on stage, wearing white button up shirts, their signature collection of ties accompanied by black vests and fake mustaches. Original? Not really, but let’s try and not judge the book by its cover. To say that Tally Hall’s performance was a model for what commercial indie-rock looks like would be an understatement. These guys trapped themselves into the Click 5 inspired,indie-rock boy band formula, where their teenage fans viciously scream and reach for the stage with their hungry arms.Let’s be honest and admit that it’s rather the frontman’s charming swag rather than his voice that gained such an immense audience. All in all, Tally Hall finished their set successfully, revving up every prepubescent girl in the crowd.
The stage lights dimmed and it was time for Rooney to rescue the night. Several minutes later, the group’s frontman, Robert Schwartzman emerged on stage victoriously waving Rooney’s flag that hung proud and high. The sight was almost as if Schwartzman just set his foot on the moon for the very first time, except it was only New York. The band crammed their 18-song set into 70 minutes including encore, with an assortment of songs from their self titled album as well as Calling the World and A Wild One EP.
Rooney slammed down the screaming fans with “Blueside”, followed with a feverish chant to “Daisy Duke”. Not even midway through the set, the floor of the stage was covered with multicolored lacey panties that were thrown at Schwartzman by his young fans. The reason for such behavior may be the fact that Rooney’s lead singer starred in a cheesy Disney film Princess Diaries, as the protagonist’s love interest. This earned him the title of a heart-throb among most of the 13-year olds in America. The band carried on a dynamic show with performances of “Pop Stars”, “Are You Afraid” , and “Suckceed”, all while bobbing their heads together to the beats and the interchangeable oceanic light sequences. Rooney also included their exclusive live track “Wild One” and finished off their night with an encore of “Shakin.” After the show, the crowd was encouraged to purchase the band’s EP and stay for the signing,leaving any teenage girl bouncing off the walls.
more from this author
- Wild Beasts @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York-February 28,2010 - March 5th, 2010
- Passion Pit After Party@ Webster Hall - January 12th, 2010
- Simian Mobile Disco @ Webster Hall, New York - October 30, 2009 - November 2nd, 2009
- Holy Fuck! @ Webster Hall, New York - October 2, 2009 - October 5th, 2009
