“Seven man, that’s the number! Seven chipmunks twirling on a branch, eating lots of sun flowers on my uncle’s ranch, you know that old children’s tale from the sea. It’s like you’re dreaming about of Gorgonzola cheese, when it’s clearly Brie time baby. Step into my office. ‘Why?’ Cause you’re fucking fired!”
Seven is the number of members in the band Los Campesinos! They weren’t selling an ab workout, but showing off their indie rock awesome sauce (awesome sauce = sound). Playing to another capacity crowd at the Bowery Ballroom, LC! came energetically out the gate with “By Your Hand,” a record off their latest album Hello Sadness. Nice start. But you didn’t feel like you were at a real rock show, until they brought out “Death to Los Campesinos!” That’s when indie-pop turned into Punky Brewster, with the kids reeving up the mosh pit and lead singer Gareth Campesinos! hitting Cureish sounding melodies.
Cruising through the set, people were keeping the mosh pit extremely active and Gareth took a break to let everyone know that he had bad news: “We’re no longer a buzz band.” They’re not, as this update came from an interview the band had done earlier in the day. When attempting to get back to the music though, there was one tiny problem. The keyboard ran out of batteries. Who knew that could even happen! But the show must go on, and with help coming in the form of the opening band providing fresh Energizer action, LC! got back to the swing of it with “Straight in at 101.” If you know the song, it was enough, and the crowd got off.
One thing we did notice, is there seems to be no quit in LC!’s fight…
Really quick side note. We came across a pretty insightful Nerve article by Ellen Campesinos! about female musicians never getting laid on tour. Highly recommended read. After looking it over we found it entertaining and an honest portrayal of the road life, but we’d say one thing to these female rockers: Regardless of what’s going on with your gray matter, go talk to the dude.
…Back to the article at hand, playing crowd favorites and keeping that uptempo pitch, they busted out “My Year in Lists,” and blew the roof off with “You! Me! Dancing!” For those of you who don’t know these guys, click here. Yes, that’s them. So fellas, next time you’re watching the big game with your lady friends, you can now tell them who the band is. You’re welcome. And despite being in that commercial, you better believe what they bring to the table is worth a hell of a lot more than a six pack of Bud. Drink that up.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier…the band stopped playing. Then they came back. Yes, it was encore time and upon the super seven’s arrival it did get nuts. Rocking out “There are Listed Buildings” and “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks,” Gareth decided the stage wasn’t enough for him and jumped into the crowd to perform. Play time was definitely not over. And with the other LC!’ers playing in support, the Bowery Ballroom main floor became one huge mosh pit. Yeah, that was still going on. With that, Los Campesinos! came, saw and conquered the evening. Make sure to pick up their new album and fellas remember to always bring your A-Game when talking to rock stars, because believe us — they expect nothing less. So do we.
Writer: Del Toro Alma
Photographer: Katie Henry
SETLIST
1. By Your Hand
2. Romance is Boring
3. Death to Los Campesinos!
4. Life is a Long Time
5. Letters from me to Charlotte (RSVP)
6. Songs about your Girlfriend
7. We are Beautiful, We are Doomed
8. Straight in at 101
9. To Tundra
10. My Year in Lists
11. Miserabilia
12. The Black Bird, the Dark Slope
13. You! Me! Dancing!
14. The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future
15. Hello Sadness
16. Baby I got the Death Rattle
ENCORE
17. There are Listed Buildings
18. Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks
