Visual Proof: !!!
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There was nothing overly exciting about the thought off seeing !!! for the first time at Webster Hall. While the raised stage worked well for the Hot Chip’s diverse instrumentation, and the vaulted ceilings complimented The Knife’s visual performance, one can only imagine !!!’s dirty homemade dance music finding its spiritual home in some damp, sticky, Brooklyn warehouse, far from security staff and merch booth and the convergence of music and capitalism. But maybe that was years ago. Maybe I missed my window.
Regardless, location is secondary to opportunity, so after equipping ourselves with a moderate blood alcohol level and leaving all things non-vital to heartbeat and buzz at coat check, we headed in.
The Field was on when we arrived, huddling over his laptop behind a white plastic card table in front of the crowd. Nearly inanimate, The Field gave considerable focus to his Ableton-driven set, but the subtle changes he delivered with every 8 count were drowned in the overwhelming bass line. While the acoustics at Webster Hall aren’t really suited to highlight the nuances of, say, a snare to a snare and high-hat combo, it’s hard to imagine the set would not have been any more entertaining in a darker, more intimate setting.
!!! bounded on stage, led by frontman and dirty word speaker Nic Offer. People often berate Nic’s vocals and song-writing, then follow their beratement with a “you’re missing the point” counterargument that !!! is meant to be fun and rowdy, and to leave introspection and a ‘deeper dive’ into lyrics for the James Murphy’s or the Colin Meloy’s. However, if disco, rap, and r&b can pass with similarly simple lyrics, then Nic’s guttural rhyming and grunts need neither improvement nor defense.
The show’s gravitas came from Shannon Funchess, who tag-teamed with Nic throughout the latter half of the set. While their duet on “Heart of Hearts” seemed to be the crowd pleaser, nothing eclipsed slurring along to “Bend over Beethoven” while punching everyone near me in my own self-contained bubble, the satellite to the drunken Brooklyn warehouse lost among the crowd.
***New WSOP tomorrow***
