Green Shoelace » Yeasayer, Amazing Baby @ Pier 54 (Hudson RiverRocks ‘09)

Yeasayer, Amazing Baby @ Pier 54 (Hudson RiverRocks ‘09) – August 13, 2009

Monday August 17th 2009 @ 8:08 pm by Nick Neidorf

Having been to a number of outdoor concert events this summer, it was nice to go to one that was both free and small.

Hudson RiverRocks 2009 is a modest affair; just a couple of bands each week, a few food and beer vendors near the boardwalk entrance, and that’s it. The food carts wouldn’t look out of place at a street carnival. There were no lengthy lines to wait in, nor anything complicated at the entrance; just the usual handful of security people asking to look through bags.

The downside to staging a concert on a Pier 54? It’s on a pier. While there was plenty of depth, there wasn’t a lot of width; the stage took up all of the side-to-side room in the assigned space, pushing people farther back from the stage then they’d otherwise need to be. No wide open fields of grass here.

First up was Amazing Baby. Pay no heed to their MySpace info; they are not a 2-step collaboration between Shaq and a panda, as their photo/byline might indicate. They’re a Brooklyn five-piece who, spread across the stage, conjured up a psyched-out barrage of tunes, some danceable, others a bit more spaced-out. One song brought to mind Deerhunter, albeit with a harder, retro edge. Their influences definitely seem to stretch back a bit further than the new wave/shoegaze sounds that have become so popular the past couple years; think less MBV and more 13^th Floor Elevators. All in all, a good first impression.

Next up was Yeasayer who, as keys/singer Chris Keating put it, were fortunately “spared by the rain demons.” Indeed, the clouds overhead were an ominous presence throughout the evening, and the errant few drops they let fall were not a reassuring sign as we waited for Yeasayer to set up.

Instead of rain, however, we were treated to a fantastic set. Live, the three-piece band becomes five, with two drummers filling out the already busy sound conjured up by Keating, Anand Wilder and Ira Tuton. Songs were played with extended intros/outros, which served as transitional pieces between one another . The core three members, all capable singers, intensified the effect of each song: “Tightrope” became all the more poignant, “Wait for the Summer” more revelatory.

Their set was a mix of highlights from their excellent 2007 release, All Hour Cymbals (“Sunrise,” “Wait for the Summer,” “2080,” among others); their Dark Was the Night contribution (the aforementioned “Tightrope”); and some new material. Their lush sound is largely celebratory. There was much dancing in the crowd, smiles all around. With such an ecstatic live show, even the encore wasn’t enough to satisfy some; a Yeasayer show is like a party you never want to end.