Happy Birthday Sxip Shirey!

Friday night was Sxip Shirey's birthday, and the Luminescent Orchestrii played at Drom - a chic but pricey nightclub/restaurant in the East Village - in celebration. Also playing that night: The Wiyos and Feloche.

The Wiyos were up first. They're a four-man band from Brooklyn, though there were only three of them on Friday night. They were folky, country, bluegrassy, ragtimey, bluesy and kind of vaudevillian - by vaudevillian I mean they were hilarious, theatrical, animated and sometimes silly. They had the most energy during their humorous songs, so those were by most fun to watch. Plus I love bands who can play funny music that is also good quality. Apparently this was their first ever show without a washboard (I'm guessing that would be the missing 4th member), which is kind of sad. I would've liked to have seen that.

Feloche was up next and I immediately fell in love with this quirky French trio. I have been listening to their music pretty much non-stop since Friday night. Their music is eclectic and unique, which is always a big plus for me - their are traces of funk, Cajun, electronica, pop, blues and more. Lead singer, Feloche, was a ball of energy. He made some pretty hysterical facial expressions, but it looked like he was having a blast, which is the most important part. Upright bass player, Christophe, was a little more laid back. Lea Bulle, who did anything and everything that wasn't upright bass and guitar - keyboards, percussion (everything from electronic drums to various hand-held instruments and a computer), horn, I think harmonica at one point and sang a little. She has a very instrumental voice, so I thought it fit well with her overall role in the group. She also had really fun hair.

And last but most definitely not least was the Luminescent Orchestrii. They were fabulous once again and they brought on a battery of guest performers to play with them for the last few songs, including drummer Mathias Kunzli from the last time I saw them perform on New Year's Eve. It seemed to me that they didn't play too many of the songs that they played when I last saw them, which was nice because I got to hear a lot of stuff I hadn't heard before but I must admit I did miss a few of my favorites (particularly Knockin'). They played at least one brand new song, never been played before - I know because they said so - and I really liked it. It was a "punk rock" song, with Luminescent Orchestrii flavor of course. I love the variety of musical styles that they utilize. And they once again had a great energy.

As always I took an exorbitant amount of pictures, which can be viewed here:

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And some mp3s for you to sample:

Dying Crapshooters Blues [mp3] - The Wiyos (Live)
Emilie [mp3] - Feloche - "La Vie Cajun"
Knockin' [mp3] - Luminescent Orchestrii - "Too Hot To Sleep"

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