Micachu and the Shapes + Tanlines: 30.Mar.2010 – New York

I had no idea what to expect walking into Le Poisson Rouge Tuesday night to see Micachu and the Shapes perform. Would this be the musical extravaganza I had hoped, or just another unmemorable downtown Manhattan hipster sweat factory? After Tanlines‘ opening set, one began to get the feeling that it would be the latter. While definitely holding the crowd’s attention, their routine sound didn’t do much for me.

As I began to lose faith in the evening, Micachu took the stage and rescued me, absolving any looming doubts I still harbored. Starting with a couple of slow cuts, the nonchalant guitarist warmed up the audience before jumping into the intense jam, “Vulture”. Followed by some more tracks from last year’s debut, Jewellery, Micachu and the Shapes showed off their ability to rock an incredible show while having loads of fun. (Their matching Twister-hued tees probably helped). My favorite sequence of the night was when Micachu grabbed her self-modified guitar and performed “Golden Phone”, one of the group’s first-ever singles, starting slowly and then finally coming around strong for the catchy chorus. Despite a relatively short set, Micachu and the Shapes performed at an amazingly high level, making for an overall fulfilling experience.

Photos by David Reyneke

Tanlines

Micachu and the Shapes