Brightest Young Things

all words: Colin Wilhelm
all photos: PHOTOLEER

By the time Les Savy Fav singer Tim Harrington stripped down to nothing but a red spandex singlet, one had the idea that this was not a normal “post-hardcore” show. Though both opening acts were solid, nothing, not the overflowing guitars and soft to loud sound of Rival Skies, nor the methodical beats and hodgepodge crescendos of Frenchkiss labelmates 1,2,3, apropos of the industrial history of their hometown Pittsburgh, could adequately prepare the crowd for the spastic attention-grabbing of LSF’s Harrington.

Harrington’s bald, bearded, fat, unhinged Freddie Mercury act contrasted starkly with his band: all the other members characteristically ignored him and continued playing the original DC brand of punk, dueling guitars and all, in the vein of Fugazi and Jawbox tinged with a few other dance-punk elements from time to time. Throughout Harrington played the adult version of that kindergartener, who tries shoving a crayon up his nose to get the attention of his class.

Over the course of the first four songs Harrington: walked around in the crowd while scream-singing into the mic, crowd-surfed on a plastic snowman, declared that the Black Cat Mainstage smelled, “like celery and B.O.”, and took a moment to ponder before fingering the butthole of aforementioned snowman after he balanced it on a stage-light scaffold.

It’s worth wondering if Harrington’s antics detract from the experience as a whole; on occasion the music does seem to almost be a sideshow to his main event. Certainly it can be jarring to hear music so often associated with socio-political messages [not that LSF’s music isn’t] coupled with the sight of Harrington’s manic attention-whoring, yet somehow they make the precarious marriage of the two work.

Mostly his act seems to hold a message within the structure of the band; sometimes its just attention for attention’s sake, though perhaps one can argue that posturing like a “rock star” is a message in and of itself. Still, while occasionally distracting from the music it generally results in a show hat you can’t take your eyes off of.

Overall it was a night of striking frontpersons (frontpeople?): in addition to Harrington, Libby Dorot of Rival Skies (as well as Last Tide) seemed the visual embodiment of her band in her purple dress. The jean-jacketed Nic Snyder of 1,2,3, nasally falsetto-voiced and gyrating to songs that started as updated garage rock and ended with Roy Orbison-inspired chords and afrobeats, Both drove the personality of their bands, backed by the interesting if sometimes rough around the edges music and songwriting of their young sideproject bands.

Still, few can match the outlandish spectacle of LSF and Harrington, who ended the show, bloodied in one ear and wearing a flesh-colored skintight “morph suit”, screaming an encore cover of Queen Latifah’s “Who Rocks the Party”, before then hawking custom-labeled ketchup bottles alone at the foot of the stage for “a penny older than 1984” each.

Previously in Live DC:

• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
• 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
• 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
• 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
• 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
• 5/21: LiveDC: The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys @ Merriweather Post Pavilion