Awesome show.

http://www.orangebitch.com/ShowGallery.aspx?Id=226

enjoy,
dB.

friday the 13th of may, two thousand and five, had an eerily familiar quality about it. i strolled through the crisp springtime air on houston street towards new york's lower east side and hung a right on ludlow street, heading towards luna lounge. i'd made the exact same walk one similar (albeit far more humid) night in the summer of 2002 after being urged by an eager young publicist -- a new friend, who, like me, was just cutting his teeth in the music biz -- to come check out this new band, one he was thinking about working with.

my friend katie and i arrived at luna to find an absolutely packed club, a telltale sign during those salad days of new york rock and roll of brewing greatness. luna was the place where the strokes broke, where longwave was born, where new york asserted itself once more as an essential landscape for guitar based bliss. the room was so packed, in fact, that we were unable to even squeeze our way into luna's back room where the bands play. but, this is america, and americans are lazy lovers of TV. luna has a camera in place that broadcasts shows into the front room, so i sat at the bar, put down three or four pints of stella, and watched three guys and a blonde with a ponytail work the room into a frenzy.

so last night, on friday the 13th, i turned the corner onto ludlow and shuffled towards luna lounge to see that same band launch the second chapter of their existence. in three years, shawn, mandy, michael, and arthur went from shadowy figures on closed-circuit television to good friends, ones i watched with pride as they became a beloved and revered rock band. i worked on their UK tour in the summer of '03, selling merch and watching them incite an amazing "festival clap" in front of thousands at the reading festival. i saw them endure obscene heat and stun an audience at coachella last may, and i saw them capture new fans during a torrential (and somewhat magical) downpour in central park. i saw them upstage the teaches of peaches. i saw them play on TV shows.

but last night, they took the stage at luna, the place where they played their first ever show, in front of an audience of family, friends, and a few intuitive fans, and unveiled their as-yet-untitled new record in its entirety, although not in order. here's the setlist (to the best of my recollection), the first notes of which came in the form of a piano (you heard me) followed by one of michael's blazing guitar solos. stellastarr* is back.

1. lost in time
2. born in a fleamarket
3. the diver
4. sweet troubled soul
5. precious games
6. when i disappear
7. love and longing
8. island lost at sea
9. damn this foolish heart
10. on my own
---------
11. in the walls
12. jenny
13. my coco

as some of you know, this show was rumored for weeks, with the band playing under the name "the ligers." throughout the night, the band joked about really being a new band called the ligers ("they're only like my favorite animal," cracked shawn), and, before they launched into that encore of three faves from the first record, michael said, "you know, we really don't like to do covers, but we know a few songs by stellastarr*." arthur made a few heartfelt remarks about returning to luna lounge (which is closing soon) and shawn tried to keep the crowd informed of all the new song titles.

bob and others who were there...i'm wiped out and horribly hungover. please fill in details and embellish! i'll write more later when i'm on point...

wish you all were here,
husky g

oh i was there too, sniff, that brought a tear to my eye husky :P

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napoleon dynamite

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i was gonna say the same thing about a tear.. sounds just incredible

i like their humor about the whole ligers thing.. quite funny

dean II

Fantastic photos !!!! Sort of made up for not being there...well almost but not quite.



QUOTE=dblock]Awesome show.
http://www.orangebitch.com/ShowGallery.aspx?Id=226

enjoy,
dB.[/QUOTE]

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outside of a dog, a book is a mans best friend - inside of a dog its too dark too read.

I cant quite believe they'll stick to that new name somehow. I dont like it.

don't suppose anyone got any audio from the show???

ssshh!! The mods will hear you!

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