When it starts to get super cold in New York is when it’s the perfect time to go to a concert and shake that chill off. Pianos is great for that, since it’s big enough to move but small enough to feel cozy. It became apparent the most of the people came to see Slowdance, and they were ready to dance.
Slowdance didn’t play any slow songs. In fact, their set was full of catchy numbers that had everyone on the dance floor. Lead singer Quay Quinn-Settel sang in both English and French, with her percussive voice that is both staccato and melodic at once. On songs like “Spell,” Slowdance makes you feel the rhythm before you even realize it, and by the time you do you’re probably already moving to it. There was definitely some interesting interpretive dance action from people who really felt it, which in my opinion makes any show better – or at least more entertaining. Slowdance needed no help entertaining the crowd, and the dancing could easily be interpreted as a way of saying thanks for that.
The dancers and drinkers cleared back out into the front bar of Pianos after Slowdance’s set, which is unfortunate because those people missed a gem – Himalaya. At a time when so many local bands are starting to sound the same with either electronic dance music or cutesy dream pop, Himalaya goes deeper than that. Harkening back to 70s psych-rock and 90s shoegaze, Himalaya takes you on a side-winding psychedelic journey.
With most of the songs off their self-titled album being over five minutes, their sound pulls you into landscape-y layers of guitar distortion and fuzzy synth that ebb and flow in waves. The moody vocals top it all off, and all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the Himalaya ride.
El Sportivo & The Blooz was next, a band I was unaware of before this show. Tonight, it was one guitarist/singer doing a solo performance, so I’m still unaware of what they are like live. Most of the crowd seemed to have left for good by this time, so it was a lonely performance. The band’s recorded songs sound promising to me, so hopefully El Sportivo & The Blooz will come back around as a whole band sometime for a better representation.
