Super Furry Animals / Holy Fuck / Here Here @ Great American Music Hall (02.09.08)


www.superfurry.com
www.holyfuckmusic.com
www.myspace.com/hereheremusic

Once again, I’m at GAMH and it’s an all-ages show. Luckily, I have a (paying) job this time, and can afford the comfort of quality booze.

The show opened with Here Here, a San Francisco seven-piece band. I missed their performance at the Make-Out Room during January’s Performer Presents show, so I appreciated the chance of finally catching them in concert. They utilize a slew of instruments in indie-pop fashion. And while the tunes were fun and novel, the flood of instrumental noise drowned any hope of recognizing just what the hell the guy was singing. Still, I thought they were cool, and wouldn’t mind seeing them again. Less is more, guys!

“Holy Fuck” is both the worst and most brilliant band name in terms of marketing. It’s bad because you can’t talk about the group in certain places, like Toys ‘R’ Us or Chuck E. Cheese’s. You know, all my favorite haunts. Conversely, it’s brilliant in that you’ll never forget them. When your friend stubs his toe and yells, “Holy fuck!” you can immediately recall the band and respond, “Yeah, ‘Royal Gregory’ is a kickass track!” Also, they exude a cool electro-nerd charisma on stage. Good times.

If ever there was a band that could make The Fratellis seem like boring tax collectors, it would be Super Furry Animals. Immensely wacky, the lead singer appeared on stage wearing (and singing through) a giant Power Rangers helmet. Occasionally, random animal noises would fill the stage, encouraging the audience to reply with their own hoots and caws (cawing like a crow never stops being funny – one of few things I learned during college). I enjoyed myself relatively well given I knew nothing of SFA. And I know they’re referred to as “SFA,” because I saw this kid with that abbreviation scotch-taped to the bottom rim of his tilted-up cap…

All-ages shows, yeah! It’s morphin’ time!