Serena Maneesh/Asobi Seksu @ Bowery Ballroom 3/6/06

Even sparsely singing, shoegazer bands will lose something when missing a vocalist.  Serena Maneesh's set at Bowery Ballroom was impressive in its Dionysian moments of tribal instrumental chaos, but the uncertainty apparent on bassist Hilma Nikolaisen's face during vocal passages reflected the band's wariness, due to the absence of supporting vocalist Lina Holmstrom. 

Comparisons to genre giants My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain are just, but Serena Maneesh at their finest manage to scribble their signature on the classic sound, mining moments of crystalline beauty from the characteristic assault of feedback and delay.  Their figures bounding to Tommy Akerholdt's primal percussion, Serena Maneesh offered glimpses of brilliance through an occasionally-flat 45 minute set. 

MP3 Masala: "Sapphire Eyes" -  Serena Maneesh

After a minute of an empty stage and ringing feedback, mastermind and lead man Emil Nikolaisen returned, the band's encore a mere mention of the bizarre circumstances surrounding the group (including a plane struck by lightning and Lina's absence due to illness, with more he wasn't willing to divulge) before deep thanks to the audience for attending. 

I'll be interviewing Serena Maneesh next week in Austin for Sentimentalist, so circle back for some of my discussion with the band about its recent drama.

Show opener Asobi Seksu is a Brooklyn based quartet offering a blend of typically indie bop with a dramatically distorted and delayed guitar aesthetic.  The band's unique identity comes via lead woman Yuki, a slight and compelling figure singing in English and Japanese and tossing her hair in time with her synth chords.  Her vocal melodies recall the ascending, fragile beauty of traditional Japanese compositions in one moment, and are perfectly pop-hook oriented in the next.  Too few of their songs were as memorable as "Walk Away," but their set was great.  Asobi Seksu is touring with Serena Maneesh and will be at SXSW.  Hit their Myspace for a listen.  Recommended.

Also there: Jeff Central Village and Crackers United

Take the jump for more pics with Serena Maneesh.

Comments

[justin]

didn't realize that I was standing next to you the whole set. should have introduced myself, my review is up here: http://crackersunited.com/blog/?p=407

[jerry]

seems like everyone was there. and you called ME a scenester.

[Amrit]

Yes, you should have. But you blew it. I hope you're happy.

Great pics Justin, and I'm with your assessment. Cheers.

[Amrit]

Contrary to the impression given by the high blogulation Jerry, Bowery was half full if that.

I guess that whole "Monday is the new Friday" rule went out the window...but at least you're keeping it real, right? What did you do last night again? Oh, right.

[jerry]

Seriously, I'm baffled why the photos of me last night aren't up on lastnightsparty yet.

[flyboy]

dude, is that bassist chick smoking a cigarette in that picture????? i'm surprised the cops didn't raid the place and shut that joint down.

[freshbread]

I agree, Amrit; they had moments during their set where I was totally rocking. The problem I have (and not because of the tribal chaos - good descr btw) was it seemed more like a jam/practice session. Overall I liked the show but could have done without missing the most explosive hour on TV that night (the second of 2 back/back eps of 24).

[Amrit]

Ha, that's classic freshbread. I miss television. What's Jack Bauer up to these days?

[freshbread]

Seriously Amrit - I've watched every episode of 24 since it started. This past episode was probably the most intense episode of any tv show I have ever seen. The cliff hanger: wow.

Basically Russian terroists have taken hold of 19 canisters of nerve gas. One was released in CTU hdqtrs at the end of the last ep.