Last month, after seeing Walking Shapes play in Silverlake, I couldn't wait for Amato to come check them out. So a few days ago we were both in NYC to provide some boisterous support for Digby's Hillman Award and we decided to go check the band out at the Mercury Lounge. They had just returned from a cross-country tour and they were even better than they were in L.A. The new album, Taka Come On, was just released a couple weeks ago. "Winter Fell," above, is the first single. The recorded stuff, produced by Gus Oberg (The Strokes) is completely amazing and the live show is a whole other experience. Hey, I dragged John to see it… and he loved it to. Funny story:
On April 24 the band returned from their tour and immediately launched a 24 shows in 24 hours mini-tour of their home turf in the New York metropolitan area. They started in Asbury Park just before midnight and immediately returned to NYC and began playing at1 am. The first show was at Manhattan Inn and they then proceeded to play 15 to 25 min sets in various bars and other late night establishments who would have them-- a gas station, a White Castle drive through window, some friends' art studio.
At around 5 am they all slept for 3 hours in preparation for a long day. They spent the day playing mostly acoustics sets in a wide variety of venues including the Buzzfeed offices, Globalgrind offices, Moscot Eyewear… until 6pm when actual venues start opening. At 6 pm sharp they played a full electric set at Pianos and as soon as they were finished, booked ass to Nublu in time for an 8 30 set. At 10 they played a sold out show at Bowery Electric, direct support for Har Mar Superstar and loaded right out and into Niagara Bar on Ave A. By that point they had gained a nice crowd of friends and fans to help keep them going. They were going on 3 hours sleep in 36 hours and still finding the energy to play. The night ended with a performance at the headquarters of their indie label, No Shame in Brookyln. They were given cameras from Go Pro and there will be a video or the whole thing coming soon.
Update: John Amato: Howie is correct. Their live show was amazing. I really loved the entire set. You must see them.
