If I’m not mistaken, the co-headlined Javelin and Warpaint show at the Whitney Museum on Friday evening was the 100th show that I have covered for Melophobe in the past year and half. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate. The unique space at the Whitney gave the show a theater-in-the-round meets street performance kind of vibe - a passionate crowd huddled around as two bands pumped out extraordinary music in an intimate setting.
Javelin, on first, was a dynamic duo, harnessing drums and synths and kazoos (oh my!) to weave eminently danceable and textured jams. They kicked off with the bubbly “C-Town” from their latest album, No Mas, and continued to draw from that LP for most of the set. The pair did not ignore their earlier work, though, making sure to play hits from their wonderful self-titled EP. “Lindsay Brohan” and “Soda Popinski” were particular treats from that album.
Javelin’s stage show is notable for the unique sound production they utilize; a large portion of the mix is run through a series of beat-up and spray-painted boomboxes, and then reamplified through the house speakers. In the last year of touring, however, it seems that Javelin has evolved as a stage act and no longer relies on the boombox gimmick to provide a point of interest. The blasters are still there, but they serve more as a colorful backdrop than a sonic focal point.
Instead, Tom Van Buskirk and George Langford anchor the music with popping drums and reverb-drenched vocals. Giving a nod to the myriad of influences on their collage sound, Javelin sprinkled on-the-fly mash-ups into their songs, with Van Burskirk interspersing lyrics from Technotronic’s “Pump the Jams,” Ludacris’ “Pimpin’ All Over the World,” Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” and Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” into various songs. Van Buskirk even managed to work “Frere Jacques” into a Javelin jam. By the time the duo closed with “Moscow 1980,” there wasn’t a body in the museum that wasn’t dancing.
Following Javelin was Warpaint, a band that has remained near and dear to my heart after capturing my attention at SXSW this year. The women of Warpaint manage to submerge me in music like few other live bands can, and Friday night was no different. The close confines of the Whitney made it seem almost like a private gig, with singer Emily Kokal mentioning that the crowd was full of friends, family, and familiar faces. The band played through a psychedelic set, anchored as always by the stellar rhythm section of Stella Mozgawa and Jenny Lee Lindberg.
Warpaint is fun to watch, mainly because it looks like they have fun playing together. Lindberg engaged in bass/guitar face-offs with Kokal and Theresa Wayman throughout the concert, and smiles shot back and forth between band members. The musicians seem to be engaged by the music, despite the fact that they have less than a dozen songs in their touring repertoire. Their energy was reflected in the crowd, as songs like “Elephants” and “Stars” wrapped the gathered audience in a blanket and urged them to press a little closer.
After finishing their set, Warpaint again thanked the crowd profusely. When the audience lingered, Wayman took to the microphone to say, “No really, we’re done.” The crowd at the Whitney, perhaps emboldened by the closeness of the venue, would have none of it. Chanting for the yet-unplayed “Billie Holiday,” the crowd slow-clapped for a few minutes, as a runner was sent after Kokal who had already left the stage.
Upon her return, Kokal laughed and said. “Alright, we’ll play ‘Billie Holiday.’ I don’t know why we never play it, since it’s everybody’s favorite.” The quartet rendered a haunting version, with Mozgawa and Lindberg sitting along the back wall and contributing vocals. The pair picked up drumsticks and added an improvised drum beat to the song, which slowly wound down to a beautifully reverberant finish. Looking mischievous, Mozgawa and Lindberg added a coda – a drum heavy, war-cry wail. As the two collapsed into laughter, the crowd showed their appreciation for a true encore that was completely deserved.
